All Africa Games: Cameroon and Guinea to face off in football final

2007-07-20

The final of the All Africa Games men's football tournament will be played between Cameroon and Guinea in Blida on July 23rd, the last day of the Games. On Thursday Cameroon knocked out Zambia 2-1 in Touiba, while Guinea dispatched Tunisia 1-0 in Blida. Zambia and Tunisia will face each other at 4:30pm on Sunday in Touiba to play for the bronze medal.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 20/07/2007

Getty Images] Issa Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), attended the Games' football semi-finals.

The final of the All Africa Games men's football tournament will be played between Cameroon and Guinea in Blida on Monday (July 23rd), the final day of the Games. Cameroon dominated in its semi-final match against Zambia, with two goals in the 53rd and 65th minutes.

Cameroon is heading for a record -- if it manages to win gold in the African Games for the third time in a row, it will be a first for the Games.

Guinea had one of their star players, Mohammed Sylla, sent off in the fourth minute for a bad tackle on Thursday (July 19th), but still pulled off a surprise victory over Tunisia, confirming their strong form after wins against Algeria and Egypt.

In the track and field competition which opened Wednesday, Nigeria's Dorine Amata won gold in the women's high jump with a leap of 1.89m. The silver medal went to South Africa's Annieka Smith who also jumped 1.89m but required more attempts. Another South African, Marcolline Tretorios took the bronze after clearing 1.83m.

In the 100m another Nigerian woman, Damola Osayemi, captured gold with a time of 11.20. Silver and bronze went to South Africa’s Constance Mkenku Constance (11.27) and Ghana's Anim Vida (11.33). On Thursday at the July 5 Stadium, Tunisia's Trabelssi Shayma took gold in the 20km walk (1:49.13). Kenya's Mercy Njoki won the silver with a time of 1:49.10, and Ethiopia’s Asnakech Ararsa took bronze with 1:49.29.

In basketball, Senegal knocked out Algeria in the quarter-finals, with a final score of 75-49. The teams reaching the semi-finals, which began Thursday at 4pm, were Angola (who beat Tunisia 72-47), Nigeria (who beat DR Congo 52-35), Mozambique (who overpowered Kenya 82-52) and Senegal.

Algeria's handball team edged out Tunisia 30-27 to make it through to the final, after being down 14-12 at the halfway point, in a match played in a packed July 5th Stadium. In the final, Algeria will face Egypt, who eliminated Angola 29-23 after leading 15-11 at half-time.

The Egyptian team dominated Thursday's men's weightlifting finals in the 105kg and +105kg categories and were in equally strong form in the women’s 75kg category, where Nahla Mohamed set a new Games record for the clean-and-jerk, with a lift of 151kg.

Both Egypt and Nigeria won in women's freestyle wrestling, ousting Algeria from the medal podium.

In women's handball Congo and Angola made it through to the final, to be played Saturday in the July 5th Stadium. In the semis Angola beat Cameroon 37-21, while Congo gained the upper hand over Cote d'Ivoire with a final score of 32-26.

In horse-racing Algeria took gold in the team competition, with the silver and bronze going to South Africa (43.18 penalty points) and Libya (23.38) respectively.

African Association of National Olympic Committees (ACNOA) President, General Lassana Palenfo, gave his assessment of the Algiers Games and said that they had been organised in an impeccable manner. He also cited the record number of countries taking part (52) and praised the attendance of all of Africa's Olympic committees.

Issa Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and Hamid Haddadj, President of the Algerian Football Federation showed their support by attending the football semi-finals. Hayatou announced that the CAF is planning to create an African Nations' Cup in 2009 solely for local players who are rising through the ranks in their national championships.