Mighty Pharaohs pass Cameroon test to storm final

In Cairo

It took Egypt well over two hours on Monday night to put away a stubborn Cameroon side here at the Cairo International Stadium to qualify for the final of the ongoing African Nations Championship.

A nail-biting encounter featuring these two rivals that have 10 African titles between them looked destined for a five-set showdown but the Pharaohs, backed by the noisy home supporters, held their own in the fiercely contested fourth set to eventually emerge 3-1 (25-13,25-23,20-25,29-27) winners.

The win sees Egypt qualify for the final after being eliminated in the semis in the last two editions and will now represent Africa at the 2025 FIVB World Championship.

So intense was the game that Cameroon denied Egypt from two match-point situations with the last three rallies lasting well over five minutes. It was an anti-climax of sorts that the match had to be decided by a net touch call by the first referee.

Home support counts

The dejected Cameroon captain Ahmed Mbutngam protested the decision vehemently and almost refused to shake the referee’s hand afterwards. But when tempers cooled, the traditional handshake at the end of the match took place and shortly afterwards the Egyptian end erupted into celebrations.

Mohamed Issa, recalled into the first team in place of the injured Ahmed Afifi, went shirtless, raised his arms and screamed at the top of his voice in acknowledgement of the fans who had performed their role almost to perfection.

The star of the night, Ahmed Shafik whirled his jersey in a circle as he took a lap of honour on the Egyptian half. This was a job well done and Coach Flavio Gulinelli couldn’t hide his joy in his post-match assessment albeit delivered with his usual perfectionist touch.

“I have to congratulate all my players from the first team to the substitutes for the consistency today. We started with the right mind serving very well in the first set which was part of our game plan.

“Along the way, they changed their team and caused us some trouble. Towards the end, we were in a hurry to finish the game and this cost us. Luckily, we finally got this win and we can now talk about the final,” Gulinelli told Nation Sport.

Kavogo injury

The hosts started strongly with Shafik and Issa putting pressure on the West Africans with good services. Cameroon coach Malloum Abbas was forced into an early substitution after the reliable outside hitter Yaoussia Kavogo limped off with an ankle injury.

Gulinelli’s charges capitalized on this setback to seal the first set 25-13. Kavogo’s replacement Cedric Bitouna looked settled in the second set as Cameroon matched Egypt point for point until 20-20 when Mohamed Masoud’s slide attack handed Egypt a two-point lead. Issa then went cross court for a crucial sideout from position 4 to make the set scores 2-0.

Yet Cameroon refused to give up racing to a 7-4 lead in the third set before stretching further away to 15-10. Egypt came to within a point of Cameroon at 19-18 but Yvan Kody stepped up with a flawless display in attack to secure the set at 25-20.

Night to forget

Youngsters middle blocker Xavier Monthe and setter Mohamed Lamine remained on court as Cameroon looked to level the game and force the decider. But it was the Egyptians who had the final laugh after a nervy ending that featured impressive digs, monster blocks and stinging kills.

As Egypt prepare for Wednesday’s final against Algeria, who edged out Libya 3-2 earlier on, Cameroon will want to quickly forget this night.

What if Kavogo didn’t get injured? What if Monthe served inside when they led 24-23 in the fourth set? What if there was no net touch by Mbutngam? What if there was video challenge to contest this decision?

There can only be more questions than answers from the red and yellow end. The white one will continue their celebrations late into the night, rest on Tuesday and hope to avenge their only loss in this competition, the 3-0 hiding against Algeria in the group stage, when the final goes down on Wednesday.