And so it came to pass that the Biblical David versus Goliath encounter between Ghana and Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations final on the treacherous playing grounds of Luanda could not live up to its biblical myth. This time round Egypt, the Goliath used its giant structure to eclipse Ghana the David.

It was a fitting climax to a rather controversial 27th Nations Cup and even though the youthful Black Stars stretched their more ferocious opponents for a long spell , one moment of magic won the day for the Egyptians who have established an incredible record of three successive Africa Cup triumphs without conceding a single defeat in all these tournaments from 2006 – 2010.

And come to think of it, that all these achievements have been under charismatic coach Hassan Shehata who some fans prefer to call the Alex Ferguson of Africa, with obvious reference to English club Manchester United’s veteran manager.

With this hat-trick by Egypt, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) would once again have to look for a new Cup. Egypt have won this one for keeps emulating Ghana’s feat in 1978 when the Black Stars won the original cup for good following earlier triumphs in 1963 and 1965. It took 22 years before its replacement, the African Unity Cup, was also won for good by Cameroon in 2000 who had already won it twice in 1984 and 1988. But this third Cup has been only eight years old when Egypt has snatched it for good in such an authoritative manner thus breaking many records in the process.

Egypt has now virtually claimed all records in African Cup history. Perhaps the only honour shared is the eight times Cup final appearance with Ghana but even there is a sharp difference here. Ghana has lost four of its eight cup final appearances- Ethiopia 1968, Sudan 1970 Senegal 1992 and Angola 2010 whilst Egypt has only one loss, Ethiopia 1962.

It is noteworthy that the Africa Cup continues to show improvement in the standard of play. The bi-annual tournament should maintain the format and not succumb to outside pressure to vary the format to suit other so called continental tournaments and the European leagues. The two year format enables Africa to produce many more talents to replenish the stock because for inexplicable reasons many African stars wither rather too quickly.

Perhaps what we should tidy up is the organization of the tournament where security matters are sometimes taken for granted. It must be realized that rebels are fast finding sports as a soft spot to attract international attention and everybody must sit up. The armed attack on the Togolese team could have been effectively checked if security had been alert knowing fully well the volatile situation in Angola.

It is my considered opinion that Togo did the right thing by quitting the games. It showed sensitivity for the players who after all make the game what it is. The decision by CAF to ban Togo for abandoning the games is to say the least cruel and insensitive.

I don’t think it would have made sense for Togo to ship another batch of players to Angola for the tournament since the original team had been badly shaken by the armed attack that left three dead and several wounded.

I was expecting CAF to institute an international enquiry into the armed attack, pay heavy compensation to Togo and organize a fitting memorial for the departed sports heroes and not to rub salt into wounds with those senseless sanctions.

It is hoped that the unfortunate incident in Angola would be the last to be seen in any tournament hosted in Africa and it puts South Africa on the alert to be extra vigilant during the upcoming World Cup.

Once again I say cheers to Egypt for winning the cup. They have really shown that champions die hard just like what Manchester United is displaying in the English league. The 3-1 defeat dished out to title chasers Arsenal on Sunday shows that United are not prepared to surrender their title all that easily.

On the lighter side, Ghanaians are not too down hearted to lose the final to Egypt because apart from being the better side they are regarded as Ghana’s in laws. Ghana’s first President Kwame Nkrumah married a very elegant Egyptian Fathia, and in popular Ghanaian folklore if you don’t have anything for your in- law, you don’t steal from her.

Egypt was painfully booted out of the World Cup by Algeria and needed victory as some sort of compensation and Ghana the in-law, should not be the side to spoil the party.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.