Salah-led Egypt tackle Cameroon in 'third final before final'

Mohamed Salah-captained Egypt face a "third final before the final" this week when they confront hosts Cameroon in an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Yaounde.

"We overcame the Ivory Coast and Morocco in what amounted to finals before the final and now we face another one against Cameroon," said Mozambique-born Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz.

While Liverpool star Salah and his Pharaoh teammates have been battling fellow top-10 ranked teams in the knockout stages of the marquee African tournament, Cameroon had a gentler passage.

They defeated the Comoros, who had to use an outfield player between the posts after Covid-19 and injury sidelined their three goalkeepers, then Gambia, the lowest ranked of the 24 teams at the finals.

The clash on Thursday comes a day after Senegal, whose star-packed side includes another Liverpool star in Sadio Mane, face Burkina Faso in the first semi-final, also in Yaounde.

It will be an emotional occasion for the Burkinabe, whose coach Kamou Malo says they will be "playing for our people who are being tested by current events", referring to a recent military coup.

Here, AFP Sport looks ahead to the last-four clashes with Senegal favoured to qualify for a second successive final, while Cameroon and Egypt meet in a repeat of the 2017 title decider.

Cameroon v Egypt

Cameroon sharpshooters Vincent Aboubakar (six) and Karl Toko-Ekambi (five) are the leading scorers in this Cup of Nations, having bagged between them all 11 goals scored by the Indomitable Lions.

Egypt have particularly painful memories of Aboubakar, whose late goal gave Cameroon a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph in the 2017 final in Libreville. 

The Saudi Arabia-based goalmouth predator drew a blank against Gambia, but was denied a hat-trick by