Pharaohs have earned their triple crown

Pharaohs have earned their triple crown

Egypt are African champions for the third successive time, beating a young Ghana team 1-0 with a late goal from a striker plucked from obscurity to finish as the leading scorer at the continental finals.

Mohamed Gedo found out about his inclusion in the Egyptian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola while idling through the football news on the internet following his international debut in December.

But five goals later, the 25-year-old is Africa's top striker and has a medal round his neck that Ghana's current generation of players can still only dream of.

It is 28 years since the Black Stars last won the trophy, and they had much the better of this final in Luanda before being opened up in surgical fashion by Gedo and fellow marksman Mohamed Zidan.

The final whistle sparked scenes that will be plastered all over newspapers in Cairo on Monday morning, with Zidan and goalkeeper Essam El Hadary climbing up to celebrate on the crossbar in the same way Algeria's players did when beating the Pharaohs in a World Cup playoff in November.

Slightly stranger was the sight of Zidan wrestling with stewards as he tried to run to fans with a national flag afterwards. He eventually got his way, but not before what looked from afar like a fairly violent struggle.

It was all a much gentler affair as the culmination of a month of football kicked off in the early evening sunshine, with a kiss on each cheek exchanged between opposing captains Richard Kingson and Ahmed Hassan .

That's something you're unlikely to see when England play Egypt in a friendly in March – but then if John Terry is still the England skipper, you never know.

Play began in lively enough fashion, before an increasingly cagey affair looked like it could descend into a repeat of, say, the dreadful 1994 World Cup final.

Kingson's purple goalkeeping outfit was certainly a throwback to that more garish age, as were El Hadary's tracksuit pants. Again, a purple blouse completed the look.

One disappointment at this tournament has been that, when Angola weren't playing, the grounds have not been full.

Even when the hosts have been on the field, the 50,000-capacity November 11 stadium has been a bit like a pint of Guinness – half empty at the start, topped up slowly and full by the end.

Thankfully that was the case on Sunday. But the analogy ends there. There's no creamy head on top and it's quite hard to get drunk on the atmosphere.

Which isn't to say there was none at all on Sunday night.

The roars were mainly for Ghana as they broke forward through Asamoah Gyan and Kwadwo Asamoah, with many fans draping themselves in the national flag of the Black Stars.

A massive Egypt pennant was laid over the seats in one end of the ground, marking their hardcore support.

If this huge arena is slightly lacking in atmosphere, the most important part – the pitch – has been slightly lacking in playability.

Resembling a freshly mown, rather singed meadow, it has been cutting up terribly.

Both keepers almost scuffed easy clearances straight to hostile strikers, with their feet throwing up dusty clods as they struck the ball.

But the goal was smoothness itself.

Kingson had barely had a save to make in a second half played with incredible maturity by Ghana, who have eight players in their squad from last year's Under-20 World Cup and are missing established seniors like Michael Essien.

Stifling Egypt and breaking on the counter, they peppered El Hadary's goal and looked the more likely winners until passes flashed between Gedo and Zidan to set up a beautiful curled finish inside the far post.

Egypt say they can now watch the World Cup safe in the knowledge that they are the best team in Africa.

And you have to say they are. Fifteen goals scored in this competition, two conceded – and they haven't lost in 19 Africa Cup of Nations matches stretching back to 2004.

In January 2010 they have beaten four teams going to the World Cup this year, namely Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria and now Ghana.

Those teams may treasure their place at the top table more than a continental win. And Egypt's failure to reach that level since their appearance at Italia 1990 doubtless still hurts.

But now, they wouldn't swap it for anything. That summer holiday in front of the TV has been well and truly earned.