Finals Rematch: Cameroon vs. Egypt Preview

January 24th, 2010 | by: shane | View Comments

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will face the Pharoahs of Egypt tomorrow in Benguela in a rematch of the 2008 African Cup of Nations final in Ghana, won of course by Egypt 1-0 after a defensive error by Rigobert Song (sound familiar) allowed Mohamed Aboutrika a free shot on goal. This year the match takes place in the Quarterfinals. And for Nations Cup purposes anyway it should be the Lions of Cameroon against the Indomitable Pharoahs of Egypt. Egypt of course are the two time defending champions and have not lost a match since the 2004 Nations Cup when they were beaten by Algeria and failed to advance out of the group. Egypt are going for a third consecutive title, something that has never been done. Ghana are the only two time defending champs to make it back to the final.

Based on the form of the respective sides Egypt should be the heavy favorites. They cruised through the group stages with three wins. Nigeria had the Egyptians on the ropes in the opening match but Egypt would find a way to get into the match and eventually brush the Super Eagles aside. In the next two games Egypt cruised to a pair of 2-0 wins over Mozambique and Benin. For the Egyptians this tournament means everything. After yet another failure in World Cup qualifying this tournament is the last significant competition for them until qualifying begins for the 2012 Nations Cup. They do not have the opportunity to redeem themselves in South Africa should they lose this match. Thus their motivation should be high. Plus if they win they can gain a small measure of revenge against Algeria in the semi-finals. Algeria, of course, their conquerors in World Cup qualifying.

Cameroon go into the match in a bit of disarray. The team has played very poorly throughout the tournament. Ironically they may have played their best match against Gabon in the opener, the only match they lost. Against Zambia the defense was in shambles and the offense was lackluster. They only got into the match after a catastrophic error by Zambia’s keeper. Against Tunisia the Lions were punished by some more poor defending and twice had to claw back from a goal down to get a tie. It was enough for them to advance to the quarterfinals, but barely.

The signature aspect of this Cameroon squad so far in Angola has been its steady calamity of errors at the back. They have conceded 5 goals and 4 of them can be directly attributed to defensive errors including one own goal. If those errors continue against Egypt there will be no escape. The Egyptians punish defensive lapses as the Super Eagles will attest to.

The biggest strength of the Egyptian side is probably their incredible understanding. Most of the players are based in Egypt and play for the same club teams. They are a team that rarely make the mistakes that the Cameroon defense has made in this tournament. Their familiarity with each other has been a major factor in their back-to-back triumphs and possible historic third consecutive title. This Cameroon squad to this point has not had anywhere near that level of familiarity.

It is anyone’s guess as to the starting 11 that Paul Le Guen will field. Kameni will still be in goal and I assume Nkoulou and Binya will be two of the back four. Alexandre Song and Jean Makoun should be in midfield and Eto’o of course will be one of the attackers. I’d be surprised if both Webo and Idrissou start but they have each been instrumental in the last two matches. Achille Emana should start but he was dropped for the Tunisia match so I would expect him to be on the bench.

Prediction: I don’t think Egypt will win their third straight title but I do not think this Cameroon squad is the team that will derail them. They have been too erratic and have not showed anything close to the kind of form that will allow them to see off Egypt. 3-1 to the Egyptians is how I see this one finishing. Prove me wrong Indomitable Lions. I’m sick of Egypt winning Nations Cups.