Kumasi, Ghana - Egypt are in a commanding position to win Group C at the African Nations Cup after beating Sudan 3-0 on Saturday, while Samuel Eto'o equalized the record for the most goals scored at the finals of the competition as he grabbed one in Cameroon's emphatic 5-1 victory against Zambia in the other group game. In the Nile derby between Egypt and Sudan, the Pharaohs took the lead somewhat against the run of play as Abd-Rabou Hosni opened the scoring with a converted penalty after he had himself been brought down in the area by goalkeeper Abdalla Elmuez in the 27th minute.
Like he had been ordered to do against Cameroon, the midfielder was again ordered to retake the kick and again he made no mistake the second time around.
Sudan pushed everything forward in the second half and came close on a number of occasions, but failed to penetrate the Egyptian defence.
They were caught on a counter-attack by Mohamed Aboutreika, who put the Nile derby beyond the Sudanese in the 77th minute with an easy goal after the Sudanese defence had failed to clear a cross.
Just five minutes later Aboutreika scored his second - which took him to the top of the competition's scorer list with four - after running through the Sudan half and scoring from an acute angle.
Once again there was a disappointing crowd of just 20,000 in the 51,000-seater Babayara stadium.
The earlier game saw Cameroon's Eto'o score his third goal of the tournament, while the other goals were scored by Geremi, Joseph- Desire Job and Achille Emana.
Cameroon's German coach Otto Pfister rang in the changes, bringing on five new players from the side that lost their opening game against Egypt 4-2.
"After the defeat against Egypt, which I accept we deserved, we were very much under pressure and I am very pleased the way we came back," he said.
"We dominated throughout the game and deserved the victory. I am pleased the way we played. We showed that we are a much better side than we showed in the first game and I am pleased that my players showed their character."
However, Zambia were the dominant side in the opening spell, but failed to create any real chances and had nothing to show for their dominance.
Instead, Newcastle's Geremi gave the Indomitable Lions the lead in the 26th minute with a well-placed free-kick which he curled around the wall after Kennedy Nketani had fouled Emana in a dangerous position.
Just five minutes later a comedy of errors gifted Cameroon a second goal.
Defenders Kennedy Nketani and Billy Mwanza failed to clear a simple ball, believing that goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene would come out to gather the ball, but instead, it was Job who found himself alone in front of the keeper and made no mistake pushing the ball into the net.
Worse was to follow as the four-time champions added a third just two minutes from the break as Alxandre Song sent through a ball which again the defence failed to clear and Emana had the simplest of tasks to score.
Another free-kick in the 63rd minute gave Cameroon their fourth goal as the ball was slammed into the wall but the referee ruled that one of the defenders had used his hands to stop the ball and awarded a free-kick.
Barcelona striker Eto'o converted without problems to take his personal tally in this tournament to three and his overall tally to 14, equaling the record previously held alone by Ivory Coast player Lauren Pokou, who scored his 14 goals in the 1968 and 1970 tournaments. He also played in 1974, without scoring though.
Zambia were denied pulling one back in the 73rd minute when Christopher Katango headed against the cross-bar only for Cameroon captain Rigobert Song to clear for a corner. From the resultant corner Jean II Makoun cleared a Clive Hachilensa header off the line.
In the 81st minute Job was gifted his second as a Zambian defender tried to clear the ball but managed to only head it past his keeper to the feet of Job, who simply had to roll the ball into the empty net.
In injury time Zambia were finally rewarded for their efforts as Katongo managed to beat Cameroon goalkeeper Edris Kameni with a shot from close range.
The victory sees Cameroon back in contention for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition. Like Zambia, they now have three points, while Egypt lies on six points after their victory.
