Abd Rabou opened the scoring from the spot in the first half before Zidan's double made it 3-0 at the break.

Samuel Eto'o scored early in the second half to give the Indomitable Lions some hope, but Egypt's three-goal lead was restored by Abd Rabou inside the last 10 minutes.

Barcelona striker Eto'o added his second from the penalty spot in stoppage time but there was no time to mount a fightback.

The Egyptians looked sharp from the outset and Zidan went clean through after two minutes but delayed his shot and the chance went begging.

A minute later Mohamed Shawky had a long-range shot comfortably saved by Idriss Kameni after the Cameroonian goalkeeper made a hash of his initial clearance.

The deadlock was broken in the 14th minute when Zidan crossed and Cameroon defender Andre Bikey handled in the area, leaving the referee no choice but to award the penalty.

Abd Rabou finished comfortably from the spot, but only after he was forced to retake his initial penalty after hesitating in his run-up.

Three minutes later the lead was doubled as Egypt hit their opponents on the counter attack.

Zidan picked up the ball inside his own half and played a neat one-two that left the Cameroon defence for dead and the Hamburg striker finished low beyond Kameni.

Cameroon pushed forward in response but clear chances were few and far between. Coach Otto Pfister even opted to replace Jean Makoun with Gilles Augustin Binya inside the first 45 minutes in a desperate bid to turn the tide.

However, Hassan Shehata's Egypt continued to look deadly on the break and soon made it three, Zidan netting in first-half stoppage time with a stunning left-footed strike from 25 yards following sloppy work at the back by Cameroon.

Cameroon made further substitutions at the break, bringing on Alex Song and Achille Emana as Pfister went for broke.

And it paid off after 51 minutes when Geremi delivered a fine left-footed cross from the right which was nodded home from close range by Eto'o.

The Barcelona hitman came close to reducing the deficit further on 63 minutes but his shot from the edge of the area flew inches wide of the upright.

Moments later, another moment of hesitation at the back by Cameroon almost saw both Zidan and Shawky capitalise with a goal, but Rigobert Song cleared the ball to safety.

But the fourth duly arrived on 81 minutes when Abd Rabou was given acres of space outside the area and he finished low into the corner from 25 yards.

The scoring was completed at the death when the referee awarded Cameroon a penalty after Mahmoud Fathallah was adjudged to committed a foul in the box and Eto'o duly stepped up to bag his second of the game.