It is the Africa cup of nations final and the best 2 teams are going to fight for the ultimate price.
There are no surprises here. Both teams paid their dues and deserve to be here. However, there cannot be two winners. We can only have a winner. Who would that be?
The Teranga Lions of Senegal or the Desert Foxes of Algeria.
Match Information
Stadium - Cairo International Stadium
Time - 20:00 BST
Referee - Alioum Alioum
It's a group C rematch. Mohamed Youcef Belaili scored the only goal of that encounter as Algeria emerged group winners. Djamel Belmadi troops have been praised for their playing style which has helped them to the final seeing off teams like Ivory Coast and Nigeria. They will hope to cap it with a win which will be their second after winning the 1990 Afcon.
Senegal are still waiting for their first nations cup title. The famed golden generation of 2002 lost to Cameroon in the final. They will hope this golden generation will win them the nations cup and write their names in the history book.
Senegal
Aliou Cisse led team have lived up to the hype as one of the favourites to win the Afcon. They have lost just once and scored 8 goals while conceding 1. The only loss and goal they conceded was against Algeria which is coincidentally their opponent in the final.
Many tag them as favourites, they have succeeded to be in the final but their football has been poor. They required an extra time goal to beat Tunisia thanks to Tunisia wastefulness. The same can be said of the match against Benin and Uganda.
They have scored just 3 goals in the knockout stages meaning they scored 1 goal per game. That's bad for a team that want to win the nations cup. They conceded just once and couldn't overturn the goal. That means something is wrong. Scoring a goal against the likes of Benin and Uganda that you should have scored more.
What if they had met Ghana, Ivory Coast, or Nigeria. These are teams that will score you and you need to prove that you are good by outscoring them.
Aliou Cisse team is built on a solid defense. They know they can count on Kalidou Koulibaly to marshall the defense. That has seen them have 5 cleansheets from a possible 6. Pretty solid at the back.
Well, the sad news is KALIDOU KOULIBALY is suspended for the final. He's their best player at the back. He had been covering Salif Sane and Kouyate errors. Considering Aliou Cisse pattern, Koulibaly is a big miss and may be the reason why they won't win the trophy.
Upfront, they have not been really convincing. The gameplan is simple, keep Mane silent and you have a toothless attack. Niang, Balde Keita, Sarr have not added anything to the front-line so far in this tournament.
Algeria
I love this team. They are the best in every thing they do. Mahrez have stepped up when it matters, Baghdad Bounedjah despite his poor goal return never stop disturbing the opponent defense. Belaili has been combining well with Bounedjah to deliver.
12 goals 2 conceded and no loss so far. The complete team. They have scored 6 goals in the knockout stages and conceded 2. It shows they are not afraid to get the goals. They didn't play Benin or Uganda. They faced Ivory Coast and Nigeria. They suffered but got the win. That's a team that want to win. You concede a goal, you get up and outscore them to win the match. They know what it feels to play a real opponent and that will show in their against Senegal.
They have the experience playing top teams like Nigeria and Ivory Coast so they won't relax. They know what is at stake and can't afford to relax.
Prediction
Koulibaly is out. This is a huge blow for Senegal in their biggest match of the year. Their defense have not been really solid like that as they rely on their opponent missing some chances.
This will not be the case against the Desert Foxes of Algeria. The Foxes are there to devour you and claim the trophy that has eluded them for 29 years.
- Algeria will win the 32nd Africa cup of nations
- Cameroon will not keep a clean sheet
- Algeria will win 2 - 0
This is my prediction. Stake what you can afford to lose.
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