The top poster in group F of the Africa Cup is of course the meeting between Cameroon and Ghana this coming Saturday. Both countries are of course obliged to qualify for the knockout phase, although Ghana in particular is already under pressure.
Cameroon:
Reigning African champion Cameroon started its hunt for title-prolongation in style, as De Ontembare Leeuwen won their opening match of this Africa Cup 2-0 against Guinea-Bissau. The country’s preparation was disrupted by a riot for bonuses and profit premiums, which initially made the players refuse to board the plane to Egypt. However, there was no sign of this against Guinea-Bissau. Thanks to this victory, West Africans are already standing with one leg in the eighth finals of the Africa Cup.
National coach Clarence Seedorf can therefore be satisfied, because the victory over Guinea-Bissau was one from the book. Cameroon was again very strong in the back, because goalkeeper Andre Onana only had to take action once. The only thing the country could blame was that there was no winning with more generous numbers. Christian Bassogog and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, among others, missed out on some great opportunities before center defender Yaya Bananana finally opened the score after more than an hour of play. Killing good chances is nothing new, because Cameroon is not a country that will soon come out of its shoes. During its six qualifying matches, it only scored six times. The attack therefore remains the Achilles heel, despite the presence of big names such as Bassogog and Jean-Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Ghana:
Ghana’s situation is a lot less rosy, as the country got stuck in a 2-2 draw in its opening game. Thanks to goals from the brothers Andre and Jordan Ayew, an early deficit was turned into a 2-1 lead, but a red card for center defender John Boye after 54 minutes of play threw a spanner in the works. Goalkeeper Richard Ofori had to give in for the second time, and Ghana was even lucky that it left a point at the start of this Africa Cup.
With a point from the first group match, there is in fact nothing wrong, although the Ghanaian home front has no high expectations of The Black Stars. “If you can’t even beat Benin’s Squirrels, what would that be against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon,” minister Sam George tweeted. Ghana did indeed fall pretty close to Benin. The Ayew brothers played a strong game, but the other nine players brought far too little. That should be better against Cameroon anyway. Captain Andre Ayew is not fit, and may well stay away on Saturday evening. In that case Kwadwo Asamoah can hope for a base place.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1,63
