Cuper sorry for letting Egyptians down in Cup final

Libreville (AFP) – Egypt coach Hector Cuper was apologetic towards the supporters of his side after the Pharaohs threw away the lead to lose 2-1 to Cameroon in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final.

Egypt had taken a first-half lead in Libreville through Mohamed Elneny but Cameroon levelled the scores in the second half when Nicolas Nkoulou headed in and Vincent Aboubakar then scored a dramatic winner with two minutes to go.

The defeat was the latest in a long line of painful final defeats for Cuper in his career — the Argentine had notably lost two UEFA Champions League finals with Valencia and a Cup Winners’ Cup final with Mallorca in the past.

“Congratulations to Cameroon for the victory. They played well,” said the veteran Argentine. 

“The sadness I have is not because I lost another final, it’s because there was so much hope especially among the people in Egypt and I am sorry for the players who put in so much effort.

“We have finished this competition with a defeat but I think they did a great job. 

“I’m just sorry that we couldn’t give happiness to the people of Egypt because I imagine that there was a lot of expectation among them.

“I’ve lost another final? I’m not going to say I’m used to it but it’s one more for me!”