YAOUNDÉ —
Mohamed Salah-captained Egypt faces a "third final before the final" this
week when they confront hosts Cameroon in an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final
in Yaounde.
اضافة اعلان
"We overcame the
Ivory Coast and Morocco in what amounted to finals before the final and now we face
another one against Cameroon," said Mozambique-born Egypt coach Carlos
Queiroz.
While
Liverpool star Salah
and his Pharaoh teammates have been battling fellow top-10 ranked teams in the
knockout stages of the marquee African tournament, Cameroon had a gentler
passage.
They defeated the Comoros,
who had to use an outfield player between the posts after Covid-19 and injury
sidelined their three goalkeepers, then Gambia, the lowest ranked of the 24
teams at the finals.
The clash on Thursday comes
a day after Senegal, whose star-packed side includes another Liverpool star in
Sadio Mane, face Burkina Faso in the first semi-final, also in Yaounde.
It will be an emotional
occasion for the Burkinabe, whose coach Kamou Malo says they will be
"playing for our people who are being tested by current events",
referring to a recent military coup.
Here, AFP Sport looks ahead
to the last-four clashes with Senegal favored to qualify for a second
successive final, while Cameroon and Egypt meet in a repeat of the 2017 title
decider.
Cameroon vs
Egypt
Cameroon sharpshooters
Vincent Aboubakar (six) and Karl Toko-Ekambi (five) are the leading scorers in
this Cup of Nations, having bagged between them all 11 goals scored by the
Indomitable Lions.
Egypt have particularly
painful memories of Aboubakar, whose late goal gave Cameroon a come-from-behind
2-1 triumph in the 2017 final in Libreville.
The Saudi Arabia-based
goalmouth predator drew a blank against Gambia, but was denied a hat-trick by
two close shaves and a header striking the chest of Gambian goalkeeper
Baboucarr Gaye.
Lyon forward
Toko-Ekambi,
one of many Cup of Nations stars with African roots born in Europe, came to the
rescue by netting twice in seven minutes.
Now they face the
Ahmed Hegazy-marshalled defense of record seven-time champions Egypt, a country
renowned for rearguard strength both at national team and club levels.
A major concern for Egypt,
though, is that they may have to field third-choice goalkeeper Mohamed Sobhy as
Mohamed Elshenawy and Mohamed Abougabal had to retire injured against the
Ivorians and Moroccans.
At the other end of the
pitch, there is the menace posed by two-time African Footballer of the Year
Salah, who debuted for his country in 2011, a year after they last conquered
Africa by beating Ghana.
After a slow start in
Cameroon, Salah led by example against Morocco, equalizing and then setting up
the extra-time winner for fellow Premier League forward Mahmoud Trezeguet.
Burkina Faso vs
Senegal
Senegal share with west
African neighbors Mali the unwanted distinction of never having lifted the Cup
of Nations — the symbol of national team supremacy in the continent.
The Teranga Lions have come agonizingly
close twice, losing on penalties to Cameroon in Bamako 20 years ago and
narrowly to Algeria in Cairo in 2019.
Reigning African Footballer
of the Year Mane says he would happily exchange "all the medals he has won
(in England and Europe) for a Cup of Nations gold gong".
He may never have a better
chance of realizing his dream as Senegal find themselves one victory away from
the final while rarely moving into overdrive.
They topped a group
including modest opponents Guinea, Malawi and Zimbabwe while winning only once
and scoring only once through a Mane penalty.
Only when last-16 rivals
Cape Verde were reduced to nine men, did Senegal score, and they then punished
sloppy Equatorial Guinea defending to win 3-1 with Mane, surprisingly, not
among the scorers.
While much attention has
been on Salah, Mane and Aboubakar, Burkina Faso have progressed almost
unnoticed until impressively eliminating Tunisia, who defeated
Nigeria in the
previous round.
The Stallions could afford
to keep Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore on the bench throughout the
quarter-final in Garoua, but teenage match-winner Dango Ouedraogo misses out
due to suspension.
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