Burkina Faso and Senegal kick off the business end of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament in the first semifinals of the competition on Wednesday evening. That will be followed by what is being billed as “The Final before the Final” when host Nation Cameroon face-off against seven-time Champions Egypt.
The battle lines for the ultimate label of King of Africa have been set, with the semifinals of Afcon 2021 kicking off in Yaounde.
Burkina Faso have positioned themselves as Dark Horses of the tournament. The closest they have come to lifting the trophy was in 2013 where they lost to Nigeria in the final at the FNB Stadium.
In this tournament they have gone about their business without the spotlight, which has been afforded their more illustrious opponents and coach Kamou Malo is taking a don’t-fix-it-if-it-is-not-broken attitude, going into their matchup against Senegal.
Their opponents, Senegal are the highest ranked team remaining in the top four to have never won the African Cup of Nations.
The Lions of Teranga will be looking to change those fortunes. They’ve lost to Algeria in the previous tournament hosted by Egypt in 2019.
Dubbed “The Final before the Final”, Cameroon faces 7-time champions Egypt in the second semifinal of the competition.
Cameroon have had an almost perfect run in the tournament, only a 1-all draw against Cape Verde being the only real disappointment in the tournament.
By contrast, their opponents, Egypt have scraped through all their matches at this tournament including a 1-nil loss to Nigeria in the opening match of the competition. But with a master tactician in their ranks in the form of former Bafana Coach, Carlos Queiroz and 1996 Afcon winner with Bafana Bafana, Roger De Sa, Egypt’s chances of an 8th title should not be ruled out.
The Cameroon versus Egypt encounter will be played at the Olembe Stadium, where unfortunately eight football fans lost their lives during a stampede ahead of their Round of 16 match against the Comoros.
Although unconfirmed, SABC News understands that the Cameroon players have asked for some sort of compensation to be given to the families of those who perished on that fateful evening.
