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Egypt have overcome a difficult start to their Africa Cup of Nations campaign to set-up a semi-final with hosts, Cameroon at Paul Biya Stadium in Olembe.
In many ways, this is the most heavyweight clash since Egypt’s opening fixture against Nigeria. With Cameroon in such good form (albeit not always producing overly convincing performances) on home soil, this is a fascinating fixture.
Having been handed a favourable path into the final four, Egypt offer Cameroon their greatest test yet. Though Carlos Queiroz’s side are not without their issues, the manner in which they’ve improved as the tournament has progressed has been impressive.
In other words, the seven-time African champions Egypt will be seeking for their first AFCON title since 2010, while Cameroon are seeking their sixth since their last win in 2017.
Mohammed Salah will be the most watched individual for the seven-time champions after he scored and assisted Mahmoud Trezeguet for the second 10 minutes into extra time of that game against the Atlas Lions of Morocco in Yaounde. Sofiane Boufal had put their fellow North Africans ahead.
The Egyptians have to negotiate their way past the Indomitable Lions on Thursday to reach the finals without their experienced defender Ahmed Hegazi ,31, who ruptured his muscle tendon in their previous triumph over Morocco.
Coach Carlos Queiroz is already without Mohamed El-Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Hamdy El-Wensh, Akram Tawfik, Ahmed Fetouh, and Hamdi Fathi. They are expected to deploy Mohamed Abdelmoneim in defence and he will partner with either Muhamoud Alaa or Ayman Ashraf.
On the other side, the Indomitable Lions who roared in the economic capital Douala, humbled The Gambia 2-0 in their quarter final clash and this time round, it wasn’t their main man Vincent Aboubakar but Olympians Lyonnais midfielder Karl Toko Ekambi who scored a brace that put them in the semi finals.
Cameroon will be looking for a sixth Africa Cup Of Nations title, the last being in 2017 in Gabon while for Egypt, their last being that of 2010 in Angola.
After seven years, the Pharaohs again came close to winning it but were denied by Cameroon in the finals thus the match ending 2-1 in favor of the Indomitable Lions.
In their last 27 games, Cameroon has won 6 times, drawn 6 and the rest of the 15 games were clinched by Egypt.
