Egypt striker Mohamed Zidan thinks his team's 4-2 win over Cameroon is proof they can successfully defend their Africa Cup of Nations title.

The Pharoahs struggled at times in qualification but their opening Group C win has given the squad a new belief.

"It's a game that we've been waiting a long time for, we are a strong team and we're coming here to defend our title," Zidan told BBC World Service.

"We want to show we are strong enough to win it a second time in a row."

The 26-year-old striker added: "We're giving everything we have, for our fans for our country, and I'm sure that we are going to reach the final."

Zidan scored two superb goals as Egypt outplayed Cameroon to take a firm grip on Group C.

The result was more surprising given the lack of time Pharaohs coach Hassan Shehata has spent with the national team during the past year.

Thanks to a busy domestic schedule for Egypt's top clubs, he believes his team has a long way to go before they are the finished article.

"Cameroon is a big team, and this result is a great start for us," he said.

"But I need to work more with the players to keep the cup in Egypt."

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Mohamed Zidan, born December 11, 1981 in Port Said, is an Egyptian footballer who is currently a striker for German club Hamburger SV. Zidan has so far earned 6 caps for the Egypt national team.

Initially Zidan's footballing career started as a striker for his hometown club Al-Masry in 1998. His family moved to Denmark when he was dropped from the Al-Masry club due to his lack of passing skills. Zidan was scouted by the Danish Superliga side Akademisk Boldklub (AB) while he was juggling a ball at a Danish park in 1999. In June 2003, he moved to the league rivals FC Midtjylland (FCM), as AB experienced financial hardship. At FCM, he became the league's top scorer in the 2003-04 season, and he was awarded the Rookie of the year award, becoming Player of the Year the following season. In all, he scored 30 goals in 47 appearances for FC Midtjylland, and especially his nine goals in the first three games of FCM's newly built SAS Arena stadium, made the stadium colloquially known as "Zidan Arena".

His incredible performance in the Danish League had resulted in several top European clubs gaining interest in signing the striker. In the winter break of the 2004-05 season he was bought by German club SV Werder Bremen for a fee of 3 million Euros. Initially, the talented striker made quite an impression with the general public, having scored 10 goals in 3 friendly games for Bremen. Even though he scored an official goal in his first two appearances, he was loaned out to FSV Mainz 05 for the remainder of the 2005-06 season. He went on to score 9 goals in 26 appearances, 7 as a substitute. In the 2006-07 pre-season friendly matches, he retained his impressive and consistent form with Werder Bremen, starting 6 of the 7 matches he has played and scoring 4 goals. Zidan's impressive performance in the semi-final match of the German League Cup against Hamburger SV, on August 1, 2006, including bagging a goal in the 50th minute, earned him the man of the match award and ensured his club's qualification to the cup final.

However, after a trail of injuries, Zidan was on the receiving end of less playing time. After months of speculations, following the limited playing time and injuries, Werder Bremen announced that, on January 16, 2007, Zidan would be transferred to Mainz for a reported 3 million Euros which made it the largest ever purchase in the club's history, passing his medical on Wednesday 17th. He scored 6 goals in the first 5 matches with new club, catapulting the team from last to 10th place on 1st March 2007 with 27 points. The Egyptian talent also received 50% of votes by "Kicker" magazine and earned himself the title of "Player of the Month" in February in Germany, while Mainz became "Team of the Month" in the German Bundesliga.

Fans of Mainz loved Zidan since his loan spell with the red shirt in which he managed to dazzle them with his skills, talent, and goals. The most notable show of talent was in a game against Bayern München during the 2005/2006 season. Zidan earned a man of the match award when he dribbled past Philipp Lahm and scored against Oliver Kahn.

In an interview with Bild magazine in Germany, Zidan admitted that he has high aspirations and has ambitions to play in either "F.C. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool or Manchester United". He stated that he wants to play in FC Barcelona within the next 3 years to play alongside Brazilian sensation Ronaldinho or Liverpool to play with Steven Gerrard.

During the 2007 season Zidan contributed many spectacular goals, but could not save Mainz from relegation. The club had only been able to score 34 goals in the entire season, 13 of which, despite having played for less than half of a season, came from the Egyptian forward's feet. Unfortunately Zidan's hard-work and valuable solo contribution was insufficient to prevent Mainz from the depths of despair of being relegated to the second division. However, Zidan's work was noticed by a number of top established clubs based in Spain, France and England as well as German Champions VfB Stuttgart.

Weeks before the 2006 African Cup of Nations, the Egyptian Football Association sent a fax on December 23, 2005 to Mainz, asking for an international call-up for Zidan. There was no answer from Mainz or the player for that matter, and as a consequence he drew much criticism from the Egyptian fans and officials alike. He had allegedly chosen not to represent Egypt, as he felt he would lose his starting spot with Mainz, as he felt the Egyptian team had no chance in winning the cup.

In a January 2006 interview with the Danish tabloid newspaper B.T., Zidan criticized the Egyptian Football Association for contacting Mainz during Christmas time when everybody was on holiday, and said that the Egyptian national team should have talked to him personally, as they had with Tottenham Hotspur striker Mido. He also said that the Egyptian head coach Shehata had not treated him well, and that the whole thing seemed too unprofessional for him. In April 2006, Hassan Shehata declared he would never again invite Mohamed Zidan to join the national side. He stated, "Zidan refused to join the team when we needed him most, before the Nations Cup. You can never count on these kind of players".

However, on August 5, 2006, just 11 days before Egypt's friendly match against Uruguay, Shehata backed down over his former decision by calling Zidan up for the national team squad. However, Zidan remained doubtful for the friendly match against Uruguay due to an injury that forced him to miss Werder Bremen's season opener. Zidan was called to represent Egypt in the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualification match against Burundi, where he scored his first international goal only 5 minutes after kick-off, besides his overall impressive performance during the match.

Indeed, in Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations opening Group C match against Cameroon, in a match hotly billed as the Group C decider for top and second spots in the group, Zidan turned in a sensational performance, scoring two superb goals, helping the African Champions' cause for defending their title during an impressive 4-2 victory.

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Great Interview of  Zidan (in Danish with sub-titles)

A short documentary on the former Werder Bremen and current Hamburger SV Egyptian wonderkid,Mohammed Zidan,where he explains his accidental arrival in Denmark and his wish to play for the Denmark National Team one day.