Oviri Kelvin
The Pharaohs of Egypt has defeated the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the semifinal of the Total Energies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2021 to qualify for the final on Sunday with Senegal at the Olembe Stadium, Olembé.
The highly intense match played at Stade Omnisport Paul Biya in Yaounde, ended in a full-time goalless draw between the leading champions of Africa’s most courted indigenous football tournament.
The match proceeded into 30 minutes of extra time to decide the winner but none of the teams could find the back of the net to break the deadlock and this led to a penalty shootout.
The penalty shootout which ended 3-1 in favour of Egypt means that the Pharaohs have increased the head-to-head statistics between both national teams by one.
From the head-to-head statistics, the contest between both teams dates back to 23 February, 1983, in an international friendly match where Egypt defeated Cameroon 2 nil. In all, right from 1983 to 2022, both teams have met 28 times according to 11v11.com records. The Pharaohs of Egypt have won 16 of the 28, drawn 6, and lost 6.
However, before the semifinal match between the Total Energies AFCON 2021 host nation and the North African national team, the captain of the indomitable Lions, Vincent Aboubakar had lashed at Mohamed Salah when he said the player, who plays for Liverpool in English Premier League, is not as good as qualified.
According to him, Salah is overhyped and he is not in the same class as Kylian Mbappe. The leading goal scorer in the AFCON 2021 with 6 goals, the highest since 1998, further flayed the Liverpool player with 16 Premier League goals saying that Salah could only get such several goals because Liverpool is a formidable club with rich football history.
With the defeat, Cameroon will be playing the third-place match with Burkina Faso on Saturday, February 5, 2022, by 8:00 pm local time at the Stade Omnisport Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé.