CAIRO, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Hosts Egypt started their Africa Cup of Nations 2019 campaign with a 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe at a fully packed Cairo International Stadium on Friday night.
Pharaohs' striker Mahmoud Hassan 'Trezeguet' netted beautiful goal in the 41st minute to secure three points for the hosts, putting them on top of the Group A.
On Saturday, DR Congo will face Uganda in the other Group A clash at the same venue.
The AFCON kicked off Friday and will go through July 19 where 24 African teams will fight for the most prestigious football title in Africa.
Before Egypt-Zimbabwe match, Egypt's President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi who was at the Stadium, gave green light for the championship, welcoming the African football teams and fans.
Roared on by some 75,000 fans at the stadium, the Pharaohs could have won by a bigger margin if they had used all the chances that came their way.
However, they got the three points as they started off their journey for a record-stretching eighth African crown.
Trezeguet, who plays for Kasimpasa in Turkey, gave the hosts a much deserved lead four minutes to the break with a peach of a goal. The winger broke down on the left before playing a quick one-two with Ayman Ashraf and unleashing a curling shot that beat the Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda.
Sibanda, who unfortunately had to come off injured with 13 minutes to play had been kept busy all through the opening exchanges and had been forced to make two good saves within the opening two minutes.
Zimbabwe had been put on the back foot by the fast paced Egyptians and they had to wait till the 36th minute for their first effort on target.
A quick free-kick was played through to Khama Billiat who came one on one with Mohammed El Shenawy, but the keeper spread his body well on the floor to block the effort for a corner.
In the second half, Egypt kept the same momentum and just four minutes in, Trezeguet forced a brilliant save off Sibanda when he found some shooting space at the edge of the box to curl in a shot that the keeper smothered behind for a corner.
In the 66th minute, Sibanda came to Zimbabwe's rescue again this time blocking an effort from Liverpool's striker Mohammed Salah who had been put through with a defense splitting pass by Trezeguet.
Sibanda's evening had to end in a tragic way as he was replaced by Elvis Chipezeze with 13 minutes left, an injury he picked up after a clash with Marwan Mohsen in the first half forcing him out.
Chipezeze also had some work to do in the few minutes he came in and with four minutes left went down well to save a Salah effort on his weaker right foot.
In January, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Egypt will host Africa's largest continental football tournament for the fifth time in its history.
The tournament was initially scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon. However, Cameroon was stripped of the right to host the tournament for serious delay in preparations.
Egypt has won the right to host the tournament over its sole rival South Africa, as it obtained 16 out of 18 votes in favor.
The North African country hosted four AFCON tournaments in 1957, 1974, 1986 and 2006 respectively and has won the title for seven times.
The AFCON matches will take place at stadiums in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailia, and Suez Canal governorates.
"We want our eighth title. We will fight for it," Heba Adel, a 21-year-old college student from Cairo, told Xinhua after the match.
The young lady said the fans will definitely support their team in all matches, noting that such support gives confidence to the players on the pitch.
Two hospitals in every governorate were allocated for receiving possible injured or ill fans as 30 percent of the hospital beds were allocated for emergency cases.
