By Sylvester Kwentua
The Witness Newspaper reports that the host of the African Cup of Nations, Cameroon, will be slugging it with tournament favorites, Egypt, on Wednesday night, for a slot in the finals, which takes place on Sunday. In this preview, we take a look at the both teams, and preview and predict the game.
Preview
The African Cup of Nations semi-final fixture between Cameroon and Egypt will mark the fourth meeting between the Indomitable Lions and the Pharaohs in the AFCON, with the Cameroonians coming out victorious in their last encounter in 2017.
Cameroon is undefeated after five games in the ongoing 2022 AFCON while Egypt lost their first game against Nigeria. But despite the narrow setback at the start of the tournament, the Pharaohs have since picked form, winning thrice and drawing once in open play. The visitors come to this game with a 2-1 victory over Morocco in the quarterfinals. The Egyptians came from 1-nil to win in extra time. But can they stand the Indomitable Lions at this critical stage of the tournament?
Cameroon on the other hand, bagged a 2-0 victory over Gambia in the quarters and will not attempt to edge out a defensively stronger opponent. This will be undoubtedly Cameroon’s toughest match yet and we expect a show of might in this do-or-die stage of the tournament.
Both sides lost two players to injuries in the quarterfinals but should make reinforcements heading in to this game. When we compare head coaches of both sides, Cameroon’s head coach, Toni Conceicao, prefers a 4-3-3. Conceicao has impressed on the dugout since taking over the indomitable Lions.
Cameroon will be without Fai and Ngamaleu, both of whom picked injuries in the last game. On the Egyptian side, goalkeeper Gabaski is unlikely to feature after playing through a groin injury in the last game. Hegazy also got injured in the last game and will unlikely feature in this match.
Prediction
With the home crowd pushing them ahead, Cameroon have galloped into the semi-final in style and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling. While Egypt will look to continue riding their luck, standing in their way is an opposing side who hit the ground running from the opening game. We are tipping Cameroon to continue their fine run and come out victorious in normal time.