Egypt made a winning start to the defence of their CAF African Cup of Nations crown with an impressive fightback against Nigeria in Group C.

The holders went behind in the 12th minute when Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke scored against the run of play. But the Egyptians equalised through Emad Moteab before Ahmed Hassan's deflected effort completed an impressive turnaround for Hassan Shehata's side. Substitute Mohamed Gedo grabbed a late third.

Egypt forced the first opening five minutes in when Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama had to be alert to deflect Mohamed Zidan's right-footed shot over after good work by captain Hassan.

We played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow we made some silly mistakes and we were punished.

Nigeria coach Amodu

The holders were stunned in the 12th minute, however, when Nigeria took the lead in style. Picking up the ball on the right, Obasi was allowed to cut inside and force his way to the edge of the area. With the Egyptian defenders backing off, Obasi rifled a left-footed shot beyond a helpless Essam El Hadary to give his side the lead with their first real foray forward.

Left-back Hany Said fired off target at the other end while Ayegbeni Yakubu appealed in vain for a penalty after seeing a cross blocked by an unwitting Egyptian arm. Seconds later Kala Uche blasted a loose ball over when he should have done better.

Another first-time effort by Uche went wide at one end before Egypt raced to the other and got their 35th-minute equaliser. Breaking forward, Moteab - a virtual spectator until that point - caught Joseph Yobo napping from Hassan's ball and stayed onside, evading the onrushing goalkeeper Enyeama to calmly slot home the leveller.

Hassan then turned the game on its head by putting Egypt ahead in the 54th minute. Zidan held the ball up expertly before laying it back to his captain, whose powerful right-footed effort deflected off Taye Taiwo's backside and into the net.

Gedo ends it
Egypt were still enjoying the better chances and after Nigeria failed to mount anything like a fightback, the win was wrapped up by Gedo who broke clear and rifled in a low shot three minutes from time.

After the game Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu, said his team paid the price for some schoolboy errors. "We played well and controlled the game especially in the first half but somehow we made some silly mistakes and we were punished," said a miserable Amodu.

Skipper Joseph Yobo said if had they sustained their first half performance, they would have recorded maximum points. "We started well and got a goal but they came at us and equalised, they also scored early in the second half to unsettle us. Had we come out in the second half as we did in the first half, we would have won this very difficult game," said the Everton defender.