Cameroon v Egypt preview

Holders face Indomitable Lions in Africa Cup of Nations final

By Lewis Rutledge   Last updated: 10th February 2008

African Cup of Nations trophy

Cameroon v Egypt: Eyes on the prize

Related links

Teams

Also see

Defending champions Egypt face surprise package Cameroon in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Cameroon ended the dreams of host nation Ghana in the semi-finals, while Egypt upset favourites Ivory Coast 4-1.

The sides have already met in the group stage of the competition, with Egypt turning in an impressive performance to win 4-2.

Mohamed Zidan scored twice against Cameroon and may be recalled for the final after missing Egypt's last three games.

Middlesbrough midfielder Mohamed Shawky could also be brought back into the side after being left out of the semi-final.

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata is expecting a tough game but remains confident that his side will emerge victorious.

Motivated

He said: "We are champions of Africa until Sunday and we hope we will be still after the final.

"Cameroon are a big team, but we've already beaten them in this tournament and that is a good sign for us to produce a good result on Sunday.

"All my players are motivated, they want to keep the title to prove that we are truly the champions of Africa."

Bikey out for Cameroon

Cameroon coach Otto Pfister is not reading too much into his side's loss to Egypt in their first match of the tournament.

He explained: "You can't compare one game with another. Egypt drew with Zambia and we thrashed Zambia 5-1, that doesn't mean we will beat Egypt. Each story is different in football.

"We've progressed match by match. Perhaps we started badly but we always know how to react."

"I can bring great players into the game off the bench. There is not much difference in the standard between the players."

Andre Bikey is suspended for Cameroon after he was red carded for pushing over a medic in the closing stages of the semi-final.

Alexandre Song was stretchered off against Ghana and missed training on Saturday but has been passed fit to play.

Record Africa Cup of Nations goalscorer Samuel Eto'o will lead the attack.