Holders Egypt to meet Cameroon in final

By Mark Gleeson

ACCRA (Reuters) - Holders Egypt and Cameroon will meet in Sunday's African Nations Cup final after two remarkable semi-finals on Thursday condemned hot favourites Ivory Coast and hosts Ghana to elimination.

Defending champions Egypt ended Ivorian dreams with a 4-1 win in Kumasi, prompting thousands of celebrating fans to pour on to the streets in Cairo and bringing traffic to a standstill in many neighbourhoods.

Earlier, Ghana suffered a heart-breaking home defeat with a 1-0 loss to Cameroon.

Victory was bitter sweet for Cameroon defender Andre Bikey, who will miss the final after being red-carded for shoving a first-aid assistant in a bizarre incident at the end of the game.

Two of Africa's most successful countries will meet again less than three weeks after staging a dramatic start to the tournament, when Egypt beat Cameroon 4-2 in Kumasi in a first round group game on January 22.

Cameroon continued their recovery from that early setback by edging out Ghana with journeyman striker Alain Nkong scoring the game's only goal 19 minutes from time.

Two goals in five minutes midway through the second half from Amr Zaki steered Egypt to an upset win over the Ivorians, who were outplayed on the night.

Ahmed Fathi gave Egypt an early lead after his 12th minute shot was deflected in and Egypt midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika applied a final touch in stoppage time at the end.