Egypt will only get better as the African Cup of Nations progresses, Mahmoud Trezeguet said after scoring the winner in an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in Friday's opening match of the tournament in Cairo.

With Egypt struggling for creativity in the final third, Trezeguet stole the show four minutes before the break to score what proved to be the winner after a superb piece of individual skill.

Exchanging passes with left-back Ayman Ashraf, he cut inside his marker and planted a right-foot curler into the far corner to send the army of red-clad fans who packed Cairo's 75,000-seat stadium to raptures.

Despite taking the lead, the Pharaohs looked sluggish in a second half to forget, with a Mohamed Salah effort being the only highlight of a dour affair.

"We want to top the group and claiming all three points was the most important thing," Trezeguet, who plays for Kasimpasa in Turkey, told beIN Sports after the game.

"The match was difficult and all the teams are strong, so it was very important to start with a win. We will get better in our upcoming matches."

Egypt next face DR Congo on Wednesday before meeting Uganda in their last Group A match on 30 June. Uganda and DR Congo meet on Saturday.

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