Cameroon struck twice in the second half to secure passage to the Africa Cup of Nations final, putting the result beyond any doubt with a second in stoppage time. Egypt now await Cameroon, in a repeat of 2008's final.
Cameroon 2-0 Ghana
(Ngadeu-Ngadjui '72, Bassogog '90+3)
For the third time, Cameroon and Egypt will face off in an African Cup of Nations final after The Indomitable Lions downed Ghana 2-0 in Franceville in Gabon on Thursday evening.
Slavia Prague defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui broke the deadlock for Cameroon with less than 20 minutes left to play. Despite some late pressure from Ghana, Christian Bassogog doubled that advantage with just seconds of stoppage time remaining to guarantee their spot in Sunday's final in the Gabonese capital Libreville.
Ever the bridesmaids, Ghana have made the semifinals in the past six AFCON tournaments without winning the competition since 1982.
Cameroon will be shooting for a fifth competition win against Egypt, the continental record holders with a tally of seven titles already. In the 2008 iteration of the same match-up, Egypt triumphed 1-0.
Ghana will now face Burkina Faso, who lost on penalties against Egypt in Wednesday's semi, in Saturday's third-place playoff, one day before the main event.
In a goalless first half at the Stade de Franceville Christian Bassogog also worked Black Star keeper Razah Brimah and Ghana could barely muster an attack in the opening 25 minutes as they scrambled to cope with sustained pressure on their defence.
But Newcastle's Christian Atsu and Swansea's Jordan Ayew grew into the game as the half wore on, nearly combining to devastating effect when Ayew's shot whistled past Fabrice Ondoa's far post.
After that, Ghana began to wrestle the initiative with Adolphe Teikeu nearly scoring an unwitting own goal on the stroke of half-after his looping back-header threatened to sail over Ondoa's head.
Ghana put Cameroon under increasing pressure as the second half wore on, but sloppy defending proved their undoing after conceding a cheap free-kick 25 yards from goal - when Ghana's John Boye found his clearance diverting to the back-post where a grateful Ngadeu-Ngadjui was waiting to dispatch the ball past Brimah.
0 Comments