AFCON 2025: Cameroon eliminates SA, sets up meeting with host
Cameroon won (2-1) against South Africa this Sunday evening in Rabat to validate their ticket for the quarter-finals of AFCON 2025. The Indomitable Lions, who did not necessarily shine, reach this level of competition for the first time since 2021 and their bronze medal at home.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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The dominant but tamable Bafana Bafana
As expected it is South Africa who had the monopoly on the ball but the Bafana Bafana showed far too much waste in finishing despite two big chances in the first quarter of the match.
Cameroon was in difficulty with disparate lines, notably in the midfield and a three-way defense that exposed itself a lot. But with the inefficiency of the South Africans, the Indomitable Lions came out of this bad start to strike in counter-attacks. On a poorly managed rebound from the SA backline, Junior Tchamadeu, who had remained at the front, easily beat Ronwen Williams (34th) to give the five-time African champion a 1-0 lead at the break.
Cameroon-Morocco in the quarter-finals
In the second period, it was not necessary to be late since Cameroon played the leading roles and in a very beautiful way. On a new counter-attack, Mahamadou Nagida, who entered just to offensively help the Lions, loads a nice cross on Christian Kofane’s head who thus scored his second goal in this competition (47th).
Although South Africa regained control of the meeting, Cameroon never gave up and remained united defensively to protect their advantage. The reduction of the score of Evidence Makgopa at the 88th did not make significant change on David Pagou’s men who qualified for the quarter-finals by winning 2-1. The Indomitable Lions will face the Atlas Lions of Morocco on Friday, January 9 (19h GMT).