Oviri Kelvin
The African Cup of Nations semifinal clash between Cameroon and Egypt cannot be said to be over-hyped to say that it is a game meant for the titans in the tournament.
While the clashes take place on Thursday, football fans are ecstactic on which of the team will qualify to play the finals with who wins between Burkina Faso and Senegal on Sunday 6 to compete for the well coveted trophy.
The Cameroon national team have been on a excellent form since the tournament started. As the host nation, they have shown capacity by topping group A with 7 points, conceiving 3 goals while scoring 7 to qualify for the knockout round of 16.
From the games played so far, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon defeated AFCON debutant, Comoros, 2-1 in the round of 16 to play the quarter final match with Gabon where they won 2-0. Comoros, despite having one of its player sent of in the 7 minutes of play, scored in the 87th minute to reduce the 2 goals deficit to 1.
Going by the records, Cameroon after playing 5 games to compete with the Pharaohs of Egypt in the semi on Thursday, has conceded in 80% of all games played; except the quarter finals with Gabon.
Meanwhile, the Pharaohs of Egypt lost their first game against Nigeria in Group D at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua. The Pharaohs undeterred by the defeat, went ahead to win the next games by a lone goal each against Guinea-Bissau and Sudan to qualify for the round of 16.
In the round of 16, Egypt won Cote d’Ivoire on Penalties after playing a goaless draw in the 120 minutes (full-time and extra-time) clash to qualify for the game against Morocco. Egypt in the quarter final game, came from a one goal deficit to win the match 2-1.
From the statistics, Egypt only conceded in two games out of five in a 90 minutes clash, which is equivalent of 40% of the total games played. Despite not scoring sufficient goals in the matches played, Egypt has shown discipline as a team and proven that their defence is solid.
Furthermore, going by the head to head ties according to 11v11, Egypt and Cameroon has met 27 times in football contests. In these encounters, Egypt won 15 times, drew 6 and lost 6. This depicts the fact that Egypt has a better record and would know how to tame the rampaging Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
There is no doubt that Cameroon who are five times AFCON winners has a formidable attack with the likes of Vincent Aboubakar who has scored 6 goals in the competition to be the leading goal scorer and Toko Ekambi whose goal tally has increased to 5 after scoring a brace in the match against Gambia.
Egypt also has won the AFCON title seven times to be the highest in the history of the competition and parades the African best player, Mohammed Salah, in the tournament, Mohamed Salah, undoubtedly has been very instrumental to Egypt’s successes in the tournament. He is the key figure and has proven his versatility in the contest.
The contest will surely be a stiff one between the two teams who are the leading champions of the AFCON tournaments, but one thing is certain, the Indomitable Lions or the Pharaohs of Egypt will proceed to compete in the finals on Sunday 6, 2022.
