Grudges and nudges galore as Egypt and Morocco clashed for a place in the semi-final. Senegal and Equatorial were quite cultured by comparison. And best behaviour will be de rigueur at the reconstituted Olembé Stadium.
Down to the third choice
Egypt's goalkeepers have been dropping like flies. Their first choice man - Mohamed El Shenawi - went down injured after performing a heroic save during the last-16 game against Cote D'Ivoire. On came Gabaski - yes we know it sounds Polish. Gabaski limped off injured during the last eight game against Morocco after spectacularly parrying Nayef Aguerd's header onto the crossbar nine minutes from time. He struggled on, in fact refused to come off. But his pain was too much. On ran Mohamed Sobhi six minutes into extra-time and he held the Moroccans at bay as Egypt claimed the tie 2-1. Will be interesting to see who recovers in time for the semi-final against Cameroon.
Exactly how safe and secure
Visible security galore for the quarter-finals at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé for Day 22's quarter-final clashes. All went swimmingly. No reckless decisions to open gates. Then again, what were the matches? Morocco v Egypt and Senegal v Equatorial Guinea. Hardly games to attract desperate thousands of non-partisans. Still, all good practice for Day 26 when Cameroon play Egypt in the semi-final at the Olembé stadium because ...
Hey hey we're back at the Olembé
Yes the 60,000 seat arena is good to go again after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) - which organises the Cup of Nations - lifted the ban on the venue where eight people died and 38 were injured in a stampede just before Cameroon's last-16 clash against Comoros on Day 16. Local organisers and the Cameroon government have done things such as increasing the number of security personnel, banning children under 11 from attending matches and making sure there are more entry points into the ground. "Caf is confident that the safety and security of spectators and visitors will be assured," said a statement. But hey, hey, Caf said that kind of thing before the start of the tournament when separatists threatened violence at venues in the English-speaking regions.
Final hurrah
The reinstatement of the 200-million euro venue for a semi-final and the final is timely. It wouldn't do at all to have two semi-finals, the third place play-off and the final all crammed onto the pitch at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo over four days. It would look rather inefficent and disorganised especially since the 2019 competition was switched from Cameroon to Egypt because the country was deemed unprepared.
Process of elimination
And who will grace that final in the super safe and shiny Olembé? Senegal - beaten in the 2019 final in Cairo - take on Burkina Faso. And Cameroon play Egypt. Maybe if Tunisia had got past Burkina Faso, then Mondher Kebaier might still be in his job. The Tunisian football federation, which appointed him as head coach in August 2019, decided he had to reassess his configurations and has replaced him with his assistant Jalel Kadri - the one who was going on about his soldiers. Well, Kadri is Caeser now. First campaign? 2022 World Cup play-off in March against Mali - a foe from the group stages of the Cup of Nations. We feel a veni, vidi, vici, in the offing.
