HAIL THE NEW KINGS OF AFRICA
Super subs earn Lions fifth title
CAMEROON were last night crowned new African champions as the Indomitable Lions picked up their fifth African Nations Cup title in a tense final in Libreville, Gabon.
With their comefrom-behind 2-1 victory, the west African powerhouse secured a ticket to the Fifa Confederations Cup in Russia in June.
Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny’s brilliant finish after 22 minutes had given the Pharaohs a goal advantage going into the halftime break.
The Egyptians suffered a serious collapse in the second half.
A resurgent Indomitable Lions came back firing and were duly rewarded when substitute Nicolas Nkoulou levelled matters with a header 15 minutes after the break.
The goal spurred on coach Hugo Broos’s youthful side to go in search of a winner and their unrelenting attacks kept Egypt on the ropes until another substitute, Vincent Aboubakar, pounced two minutes from regulation time to become the ultimate hero.
It was sweet revenge for Cameroon who lost 1-0 to the Egyptians in Ghana’s capital Accra in the 2008 final.
Concluding a tournament where the likes of defending champions Ivory Coast, Senegal and Algeria were considered the favourites, the young Lions were not fancied to reach the final.
Even last night, they resisted some early attacks from the Pharoahs who almost caught them napping when Abdallah El Said rifled on the edge of the big box within 90 seconds after kick-off, but Lions’ keeper Fabrice Ondoa responded with a comfortable save.
Cameroon were a bit cautious in the beginning, resorting more on keeping the likes of Egypt’s danger men such as Elneny and Mohamed Salah under heavy surveillance.
Reflecting on their journey, it was a classical tale of “against-allodds” for Cameroon who looked weak on paper, especially after the squad was handicapped by the refusal of some of their top European-based players to heed call-ups.
Their Belgian mentor Broos said that 14 of the 23 were playing at their first Cup of Nations and Gabon was a unique opportunity in their careers to win the trophy.
Prior to their fairy tale run last night, the Indomitable Lions qualified from their group at the expense of the hosts Gabon and knocked out tournament favourites Senegal and Ghana to make their first final since 2008.
There was an added reason to celebrate for Cameroon last night – they will host the next Afcon edition in 2019.