Egypt 0-1 Tunisia

Tunisia reached the last four of the African Cup of Nations with a hard-fought victory over defending champions Egypt in their quarter-final showdown in Kano.

Khaled Badra was the hero for the Tunisians, as his first-half penalty clinched a tense north African derby.

Theyl now go on to face Cameroon in the semi-finals in Accra on Thursday.

No team has successfully defended the title since Ghana in 1965 - and history was against Egypt, who dominated possession for long periods but failed to force their way onto the scoresheet.

Tunisia - inspired by Zied Jaziri - gained the advantage over their neighbours in the 21st minute, when Badra coolly converted from the spot after Tarek Thabet had been felled in the area.

The goal came as a blow to Egypt, who had looked the more likely team to score in the early stages.

Their star striker Hossam Hassan had a glorious chance to equalise six minutes before the break - but Tunisian keeper Chokri El Ouaer saved his low shot with his legs.

Hassan again came close to claiming an equaliser five minutes after the interval - but El Ouaer did well to keep out his curling free-kick.

End-to-end action

As the game opened up in the second half, Tunisia pushed on in search of a second and the impressive Jaziri put the ball in the net, only to have his effort ruled out for offside.

If the contest was drab in the first half, there were suddenly a string of chances in the early stages of the second and Ahmed Salah Hosni blasted over for Egpypt after Hassan had failed to connect with a left-wing cross.

Hassan, the most influential Egyptian on the pitch in his 140th international, let fly from the edge of the area - but El Ouaer got down sharply to clutch the ball.

With Egypt becoming increasingly desperate, Tunisia almost exploited the gaps at the back with a second goal after 84 minutes - but Hady Khashaba just managed to clear a dangerous cross off the head of Jaziri, who was well placed to score.

Tempers became frayed as the seconds ticked away and both sets of players were involved in a stand-off following a series of late challenges.

Jaziri nearly scored one of the goals of the tournament in injury time - but Egyptian keeper hung onto his impudent chipped effort from 25 yards.

Teams:

Egypt: 1-Nader El Sayed; 2-Ibrahim Hassan, 4-Hani Ramzi, 5-Abdelzaher El Saqqa, 3-Mohamed Omara; 20-Hady Khashaba, 8-Yasser Radwan, 11-Tarek Said, 15-Ibrahim Said; 9-Hossam Hassan, 19-Ahmed Salah Hosni

Tunisia: 1-Chokri El Ouaer; 2-Khaled Badra, 3-Sami Trabelsi, 15-Radji Jaidi, 17-Tarek Thabet; 8-Zoubier Baya, 14-Sitajeddine Chihi, 12-Raouf Bouazaine, 18-Meher Kanzari; 20-Zied Jaziri, 9-Ali Zitouni