Cameroon vs Egypt: Indomitable Lions don't look like they will give up so soon

The two most successful teams in the history of AFCON will go against each other at the Olembe Stadium on Thursday. This is a contest that no football lovers would pray to miss, Cameroon and Egypt locking horns together in the semifinals. Will Egypt progress to the finals?

CAMEROON

Last five matches: WWDWW

With passion and determination, Cameroon have been a joy to watch in this tournament, giving us back to back entertaining football so far, we can say it's because they are playing in front of their fans but their team play cannot be overemphasized.

The Indomitable Lions are unbeaten in this tournament and have scored a whopping eleven goals. They qualified for the Round of 16 as the group leader, three points above second-placed Burkina Faso and won against Comoros.

They started the tournament with a win over Burkina Faso as Vincent Aboubakar scored two penalties in the first half to cancel out Burkina Faso early lead. The match ended in a 2-1 win for the host.

This was followed by a convincing win against Ethiopia, Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar scored twice to grant the Indomitable Lions a 4-1 win even after going behind in the match, they shared the spoils against Cape Verde to emerge the top spot in Group A with seven points.

The match against Comoros ended in a 2-1 win, Karl Toko Ekambi scored in the 29th minute after Comoros were down to ten men in the 7th minute, the inform Vincent Aboubakar scored in the 70th minute as Youssouf scored a consolation goal.

In the quarterfinals, they were victorious over a strong Gambia side . After a strong first half display from Gambia, the match looked like it was going to end in a deadlock until Karl Toko Ekambi scored in the 50th minute and doubled the lead shortly after and that handed Cameron the ticket to the semifinals.

Cameroon are ranked 50th according to FIFA, Cameroon, who are pursuing to overcome the continent for the sixth time, are now unbeaten in each of their last nine outings across all competitions — picking up eight wins and one draw — stretching back to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Ivory Coast in the World Cup qualifiers last September.

Key player: Karl Toko Ekambi

EGYPT

Last five matches: LWWDW

After a poor outing against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their first match, Egypt went on to win all the four matches they played afterwards.

The Egyptian Pharaoh hasn't really lived up to expectations as they finished second in Group D with six points, three points behind Nigeria and four points above Sudan but have shown they are up to the task as they beat Ivory Coast in the round of 16.

They launched their group game with a 1-0 loss to Nigeria l and bounced back against Guinea Bissau, Mohammed Salah made the difference with just a goal. It was a wrap as they beat Sudan to secure them the second spot. Won two and lost one.

They eliminated one of the toughest contestants in the competition, when they held Ivory Coast to a deadlock as the match was decided by penalty and they won 5-4.

After a convincing display against one of the favourites in this tournament , they cruised to a 2-1 comeback win over Morocco. Safiane Boufal gave Morocco the lead in the first half from the penalty spot after Hakimi was brought down in the box. In the 53rd minute , Mohammed Salah gave Egypt their deserved equalizer as the match ended in 1-1 draw at full time. The match was stretched to an extratime as Mohammed Trezeguet gave Egypt the lead to eliminate Morocco.

Presently rated 45th according to FIFA, the Egyptians have scored just four goals in the tournament, but their defensive show of class has played a huge role in their journey so far as they have kept three clean sheets and conceded just two in five games.

Egypt are the most successful team in the history of this tournament and have won the AFCON title seven times.

Key player: Mohammed Salah

Expert Betting Tips

Both teams have met in recent times, the last happened in the 2017 AFCON final, Cameroon came back from one goal down to defeat Egypt which ended in a 2-1 for the Indomitable Lions. The other two ended in a 2-1, 3-1 win for Egypt.

Cameroon are a very good attacking side and have scored the most goals in this tournament, they will be playing against an Egypt side who love defending and rarely score. We are fully aware that both teams are strong contenders for the title but Cameroon have the upper hand here, playing in front of your fans will definitely boost the attitude of players, we are going with a Cameroon win for 2.16.

Cameron are very good at conceding and the only match they have kept a clean sheet was against Gambia, Egypt won't be a walkover so we believe BTS will come for 2.37.

First Half over 0.5 at 1.60 won't be bad.

Good luck!