LUANDA: Egypt won their seventh Africa Cup of Nations here Sunday and unleashed yet another star on the continent s football horizon in the guise of Mohamed Gedo Nagy.
The proud country of the Nile have produced some of Africa s top stars like Bibo El-Katib, Hossam Hassan and most recently the mercurial Mohamed Abou-Trika and now the 26-year-old Al-Ittihad midfielder could soon have his name mentioned in the same breath as these national greats.
Hardly known outside his homeland before Angola 2010, Nagy netted five goals, all as a substitute, to finish as tournament top scorer.
And he chose the best moment to announce his arrival on the big stage when he combined with Mohamed Zidan five minutes from the end with the final looking like dragging into extra-time, to fire home the championship-winner against a youthful Ghana side.
The Pharaohs arrived in Angola without key stars like Abou-Trika, Mohamed Barakat and Amr Zaki, but from their convincing opening display against two-time champions Nigeria, few were left in doubt that Egypt aimed to retain the title.
And who better to herald the new Egypt than second-half substitute Gedo , which is Arabic for grandfather, who stepped out on the pitch of the Ombaka Stadium in Benguela to put the game beyond Nigeria.
He showed he was not a flash in the pan when he again struck in his team s second match against Mozambique.
His goal, a half-volley from top of the box, emerged as one of the goals of this tournament.
His other goals came against Cameroon in the quarter-finals and fierce rivals Algeria in the semi-final.
Egypt assistant coach Shawky Gharib commented: Another star is born in Angola. Every time Gedo has played he has scored. We have that feeling of success with him coming on as substitute. -AFP
