Champions Egypt retained the African Cup of Nations, defeating Cameroon 1-0 in the final. It was a match of two heavyweights, and they had emerged from a final four that had the tournament favourites Ivory Coast (despatched 4-1 by Egypt) and hosts Ghana (beaten 1-0 by Cameroon).

It was a sad day for two players in particular, Alexandre Song, and his uncle Rigobert Song. 19 year old Arsenal midfielder/defender Alex Song had been Cameroon's (and arguably the tournament's) best player since being substituted into their first game with half an hour to go. He had been injured during the semi-final, and was touch-and-go to play the final. However, he did start the game, wearing a massive knee brace, but sadly could not play for very long, and midway through the first half Cameroon lost Alex Song, and their creative inspiration.

Uncle Rigobert however will feel bad for different reasons. One of the most experienced and rugged defenders ever to come out of Africa, he had, according to Coach Otto Pfister, restored his status as "the best defender in Africa" at this tournament. Indeed he had been immense in Cameroon's March to the final, rarely putting a foot wrong, and dominating his area of the pitch.

However, late in the second half, he made a complete hash of a clearance, which ended up going behind him. He then recovered the ball, but dallied on it with Egyptian striker Mohamed Zidan in hot pursuit. The two tangled, and Zidan manage to scrap for the ball while on the ground, and recovered his poise to square a pass to the onrushing Mohamed Abou Tarika, who drilled it past Carlos Kameni, scoring the only goal of the game.

So 1-0 it was to Egypt, and they probably did deserve it. It was a very tight affair, and the tournament's two best keepers were on show here. Carlos Idriss Kameni had debut shakily for Cameroon at the age of 16, and played his first ACN at 19, and now at 23 he has bags of experiences to ally to his tremendous talent. He was a key figure in Cameroon's solidity, and their defensive prowess.

As for Egypt, Essam El-Hadary is a bit of an elder statesman at 35. Deceptively baby-faced, he rolled back the years at this tournament, pulling off some fantastic point blank saves, especially against the Ivory Coast. Although not the most commanding presence, his shot-stopping was probably the difference in many of Egypt's games, and he fully deserved his celebrations and trademark dance at the end of the game.

Mohamed Abou Tarika, the goalscorer, and chief playmaker, was possibly the man of the match. This is in addition to him being the man whose name is never spelt the same way twice - I say Abou Tarika, as I first saw it when watching him at the Club World Cup in 2006, but i've also seen Aboutrika, Abou Tarika, Abootreika, and countless other variants. He's almost 30 now, but one hopes that he will get a chance to showcase his talent at a higher level. A silky attacker/playmaker, blessed with "proper" technique, vision and touch, his lack of physicality and fight meant that he wouldn't really get a chance in Europe and "modern football". However, he's changed over the years, become less of a striker, dropping deep and pulling the strings. A few years in Spain would be nice.

Overall, well done to Egypt, especially for scoring so many goals, and giving us so many zany celebrations.