Egypt coach Hassan Shehata believes justice was done after his side prevailed over Ivory Coast in a penalty shoot out to winthe African Nations Cup for a record fifth time.
The game in Cairo finished 0- before Egypt’s 4-2 win on penalties.
Didier Drogba missed an easy chance for the Ivory Coast, Amr Zaki had a goal disallowed for Egypt, and then their captain Ahmed Hassan missed a penalty during a dramatic period of extra time.
But Shehata felt it was a deserved victory for his side, and claimed it should have all been over after 90 minutes.
“The goal Zaki scored late in the normal time should have stood because there was nothing wrong with it and when we again lost the penalty in extra time, I was beginning to think it was not going to be our day,” he told BBC Sport.
“Thank God we were luckier during the penalty shoot-out.
“We won the championship after a lot of effort and sweat and with support from the president (Hosni Mubarak), technical staff and players.
“The final match was a marathon. We exerted a lot of sweat and effort to please this great nation.
“This great achievement is dedicated to the Egyptian fans who stood by the national team.
“God always rewards those who perfect what they do and we exerted huge efforts to win the championship until this dream came true.”
The Ivory Coast’s coach Henri Michel believes missed chances cost his team the chance of success.
“I am proud of my team because of everything they’ve done here,” said Michel.
“We can have a few regrets, though, because we had some clear chances in the second half and, at that stage, the Egyptians were, physically, dead and I think if we’d scored the match would have been over.”
“But the thing we have to take away from this is the good run we’ve had at this tournament with this team…and it’s just a shame we didn’t win it.
“We went close but when you don’t take your chances you get punished.”
“We played a good football match tonight and I think Egypt was lucky to win.”
