As the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) comes to an end on Sunday, February 6, the Teranga Lions of Senegal, who are looking for their first continental title, will face seven times champion, Egypt.
The biennial competition has seen African heavyweights such as Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana among others exit the tournament at the group stage. It was more surprising as Algeria, the defending champion from the last edition exit the tournament without a win, while countries like Gambia, Equatorial Guinea and Comoros Island gave a good account of themselves.
The two finalists- Senegal and Egypt- started the tournament on a shaky note, but have since clicked into gear in the knock out stages.
Sunday’s mouthwatering final will be a face off between Liverpool duo, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, arguably the two best players on the continent.
Egypt are looking for their first title since 2010, while Senegal have never won the competition, but are in the final for the third time and the second AFCON in a row. Senegal lost to Algeria at the last tournament in 2019.
Meanwhile, the host nation, Cameroon, saw their hopes of AFCON glory on home soil came to an end after a pulsating 120 mins of football against Egypt on Thursday evening.
However, Cameroon will have the chance to restore some pride in the third-place play-off game against Burkina Faso on Saturday, before Egypt take on Senegal on Sunday.
I was disappointed by Achebe’s comment on my Nobel prize – Soyinka