After the craziness witnessed late Thursday night when Egypt and Ghana traded blows in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny and only preceding Nigeria’s gritty win over Ivory Coast, Friday serves up to add more spice when two other powerhouses in Cameroon and Senegal face up in one of the three fixtures lined in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.afcon you’ve been a treat. we’ll be back tomorrow for senegal v cameroon pic.twitter.com/la6PmCSv3C— k🧊¹⁷ 🇵🇸🇿🇦 (@kwandsssss) January 18, 2024 Cameroon vs SenegalThe Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro will host one of the biggest games on the continent between Senegal and Cameroon on Friday 2000 EAT in the second round of Group C matches.Senegal, the defending champions, seek to confirm their strong entry into the competition after winning the first match 3-0 against Gambia, while Cameroon looks to get their tournament underway – in regards to wins – after drawing to Guinea last Monday.SÉNÉGAL 🇸🇳 ⚔️ 🇨🇲 CAMEROUN𝗖’𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗨𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗗’𝗛𝗨𝗜. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xeaM4Zkz1E— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) January 18, 2024 “Senegal indeed are the favorite, but as I always say we must never bury Cameroon, we remain a great team and a great nation,” Cameroon defender Georges Kevin Nkoudou said ahead of the match. “They started this tournament with a very good victory against Gambia. For our part, we had a good match but unfortunately, we only got one point. “We have to put this behind us for now and focus on our match against Senegal which will be very difficult for both teams. I think we have all the weapons necessary to be able to put them in a more difficult position.”The two teams have crossed paths 14 times across all competitions thus far – four times in the AFCON – and have contested these meetings closely, with the reigning champions having a 6-5 lead in wins and three games ending in draws.“Cameroon remains Cameroon. Our match against them is not revenge,” Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse mentioned. “Cameroon have already won many continental titles and we are going to face a team motivated to make up for the result they got in the first match.”#AFCON2023 Two African legends and current coaches of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and Senegal 🇸🇳 the dreadlocked Rigobert Song and Aliou Cisse met in Côte d’Ivoire. @soka25east pic.twitter.com/G9GHBvKrQT— Collins Okinyo (@bedjosessien) January 18, 2024 The last meeting between the two sides separated by only 24 places in the FIFA rankings, came in October last year, Lions of Teranga registering a 1-0 victory.A similar outcome will see Senegal punch their ticket into the last 16, but Cameroon knows it is a must-win game, with Manchester United keeper Andre Onana’s return a game-time decision.No surprise here: hard-headed Onana dealing with the consequencesCape Verde vs MozambiqueHaving watched Egypt and Ghana remain winless in Group B, leaders Cape Verde will be keen to make history in the 1700 EAT kickoff when they take on Mozambique in the two sides’ first encounter at the AFCON.A win for the Blue Sharks will see them for the first time in history win two consecutive games in the tournament, and extend their superiority over their rivals to four matches in all competitions, all with the surety of a fourth AFCON win.Roberto Pico Lopes – Cape Verde’s lucky ‘leprechaun?Mozambique, who conceded a stoppage-time equalizer against Egypt in a 2-2 draw – on the other hand, faces the prospect of remaining winless at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 13 attempts, but with a decent chance of securing progression to the knock-outs with a win, banking on the fact that Group B remains wide open.Guinea vs GambiaThe last game of the day will involve two teams that dropped points in their opening Group C matches, as Tom Saintfiet’s side plays Guinea at Charles Konan Banny Stadium from 2300 EAT.Guinea, after taking a lead through Mohamed Bayo in the 10th minute, settled for a 1-1 draw with Cameroon and also saw their winger François Kamano sent off in the contest.##NAJAVA_MECA_7805055##Gambia, on the other hand, were hammered 3-0 by Senegal, also finishing the game with 10 men after Ebou Adams was dismissed in first half added time.This match will mark the second time these sides meet in AFCON competition, with the previous meeting ending 1-0 in favor of Gambia during the last 16 in the 2022 edition of the tournament.AFCON 2023- GROUP STAGERound 2ThursdayEquatorial Guinea – Guinea Bissau 4-2 (1-1)/Nsue 21, 51, 61, Miranda 46 – Orosco 37, Ze Turbo 90+3/Ivory Coast – Nigeria 0-1 (0-0)/Troost-Ekong 54 pen/Egypt – Ghana 2-2 (0-1)/Marmoush 69, M. Mohamed 74 – Kudus 45+3, 71/Friday17:00: (2.15) Cape Verde (3.15) Mozambique (3.70)20:00: (1.97) Senegal (3.30) Cameroon (4.20)23:00: (2.15) Guinea (3.15) Gambia (3.70)Saturday17:00: (1.72) Algeria (3.50) Burkina Faso (5.40)20:00: (3.15) Mauritania (3.05) Angola (2.45)23:00: (2.75) Tunisia (2.95) Mali (2.85)Sunday17:00: (1.58) Morocco (3.70) DR Congo (6.75)20:00: (2.30) Zambia (3.15) Tanzania (3.35)23:00: (2.00) S.Africa (3.30) Namibia (4.00)***odds are subject to change***
