Hosts Cameroon will kick off their quest for a sixth Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday 9 January when they take on Burkina Faso at the Paul Biya Stadium in Yaoundé.Betting Link: Cameroon vs Burkina FasoThe Indomitable Lions are hoping to bridge the gap between themselves and Egypt who have seven African titles as they hope to make their home advantage count when the tournament kicks off.This will be the first time that the African giants will be hosting the event after a 50 year wait as they staged the tournament back in 1972 where they finished third after beating Zaire 5-2.#TeamCameroon fans ready to rock the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/QuKDueZfTv— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 8, 2022 Cameroon who are under the tutelage of Portuguese head coach António Conceição are one of the tournament favourites to lift the 33rd edition of the tourney and the head caoch, in a prematch press conference, was impressed with their preparations for the tournament and admitted Burkina Faso are no pushovers. “It is for a new challenge with the Indomitable Lions. We will try to achieve our ambitions. We prepared well and now we are ready for the competition. Our opponent is not an easy team. But we have the strength and determination to make a good start,” said Conceição.The 2017 African champions had an impressive qualifying campaign as they lost once, drew twice and won three encounters qualifying alongside Cabo Verde who are coincidentally in the same Group. Cameroon currently possesses an airtight defense that has recently kept three straight clean sheets in the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Good morning from Yaoundè ☀️The Cameroonian capital is ready to host the world! 🌍#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/hxpghYbluP— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 9, 2022 Burkina Faso will however not be pushovers as they have mastered the art of tournaments, finishing third in the last edition and getting to the final back in 2013 where they lost to Nigeria. The Stallions assistant coach Sanou Firmen revealed the tough task at hand in facing the hosts but is hoping the team can get past the Group Stages. “We are facing the hosts which is difficult. But we have the means to achieve our objectives, and to go as far as possible in this competition. We will play with a young generation of talented players. Our first objective is to get past the group stage and our ultimate target is the title,” said Firmen. This is Burkina Faso’s 12th appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations and in their previous 11 participations, they have either been eliminated in the group stages eight times. The West African nation will be in pursuit of its maiden Africa Cup of Nations title and have form on their side after losing just one competitive outing since March 2019.🇧🇫 The Stallions of Burkina Faso posing for the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🐎@FBF226 | #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/RTOujJ4Pw5— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 7, 2022 Burkina Faso will be looking to Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traoré for inspiration while Cameroon will hope Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting can find his scoring boots. This will be Cameroon and Burkina Faso’s third encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations. Both previous meetings came in the group phase: Cameroon won 1-0 in 1998 before a 1-1 draw in 2017.
