Cameroon, Ghana in crunch Group F clash

by Graeme Jackson

Thursday Jun 27, 2019. 10:00

Cameroon and Ghana will meet in a crunch 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group F clash at the Ismailia Stadium on Saturday 29 June, kick-off at 19:00 CAT.

Defending AFCON champions Cameroon opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday evening. The Indomitable Lions had to be patient, but finally broke down their opponents in the second half and netted through Banana Yaya and Stephane Bahoken.

Clarence Seedorf’s side will hope to build on their performance and see this clash against a fellow heavyweight as a litmus test of their readiness to defend the Nations Cup crown that they earned in such style two and a half years ago.

Ghana, meanwhile, had a disappointing start to their campaign after they were held 2-2 by Benin in the late game on Tuesday. The Black Stars scored their goals through brothers Andre and Jordan Ayew, but they were stymied by a brace from the Squirrels’ Mickael Pote.

Yet it was the controversial sending off of defender John Boye (whose second yellow card was a very harsh call for time wasting) which really cost Ghana in the match, and they will be missing the influential defender for this clash against Cameroon.

Reshuffling the defence will be something of a headache for coach James Kwesi Appiah, who also needed to replace Thomas Agyepong early in the match due to what appeared to be a muscle injury. Yet the Ghana coach will at least be pleased that the talismanic Ayew siblings appear to be in prime form and ready to lead the charge.

In head-to-head stats, Cameroon and Ghana have met in eight previous matches. The Black Stars have claimed three wins compared to two for the Indomitable Lions.

The teams’ most recent meeting was in the 2017 AFCON. Cameroon defeated Ghana 2-0 in a semifinal in Franceville thanks to goals from Michael Ngaedu-Ngadjui and Christian Bassogog.