Coach Toni Conceicao has voiced Cameroon’s determination to reach the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Egypt on Thursday night.
The teams face off in the semi final at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde – with the winner trying Senegal for size in Sunday’s final.
The North Africans go into this encounter as favourites having in mind that they have won three of their last four Afcon matches against the Indomitable Lions.
Apart from this, Carlos Queiroz’s men are out to avenge their loss to the Cameroonians in the final of 2017 Afcon staged in Gabon.
Notwithstanding, Conceicao is unyielding – claiming his players are ‘motivated’ and their objective is to emerge as African kings.
“Our goal is clear; to play a good game and go to the final,” the Portuguese tactician told the media per Caf website.
“We will play against a very good team, Egypt, the most successful team in Africa.
“They have very good players, including one of the best in the world, namely Mohamed Salah. My players are motivated to win.
“We have positive pressure, but our objective is clear, to win the title for the Cameroonian people.”
Cameroon have progressed from seven of their nine semi-final matches at Afcon, with only opponents Egypt (8) having made it through this round more often in the championship’s history.
Echoing this sentiment is Napoli star Andre-Frank Anguissa who has scored five goals so far in the ongoing tournament.
“The group is motivated to play a good match against Egypt,” he said.
“We are determined to achieve a good result, go to the final and win the title. Playing at home is very special for us.
“We are committed to play this semi-final and go for the title next Sunday, for the Cameroonian people.”
It is worthy to note that since the beginning of 2017, no player has been directly involved in more goals in the biennial African showpiece than Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (six goals, three assists) or Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar (seven goals, two assists).
