Defending champion Egypt spanked Cote d'Ivoire 4-1 on Thursday and progressed into the final of the 26th Africa Nations Cup.

Cote d'Ivoire appeared to become a king of Africa soccer in its previous matches. The result of 5-1 against Guinea in the quarter-final proved the potential of the West African team. However, The Elephants lost its direction towards a final victory in the match against Egypt.

Ahmed Fathi offered an opening goal for The Pharaohs in the 12th minute. His teammate Amr Zaki 's header hit the crossbar of Cameroon and finally rolled into the net after the hour. Although The Elephants answered with another left-wing goal in less than one minute by the efforts of Abdelkader Keita, Zaki scored for the second time with a crafty long-distance shot in the 67th minute. It was Zaki's fourth goal in the continental tournament.

Egyptian experienced goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari also staged an excellent performance throughout the match and made clever saves to deny the efforts of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba from Cote d'Ivoire for no less than five times.

Before the injury time, Abou Terika received a right-wing pass from substitute star, Hanburg striker Mohamed Zidan, and gave a powerful close-distance goal, putting an end to the match.

The game was a repeat of the 2006 Africa Nations Cup when Egypt beat Cote d'Ivoire twice, a 4-2 in penalty kick of the final and a 3-1 in the group stage in Cairo.

The Pharaohs will vie for the Cup on Sunday with Cameroon in Accra and try to set a new record of winning the Cup for the sixth time. Cote d' Ivoire will fight for the third place on Saturday with Ghana who was defeated by Cameroon 1-0 in the previous semi-final.