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Favourites Senegal Out While Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt And Ghana Advance

Favourites Senegal Out While Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt And Ghana Advance

Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) favourites Senegal were knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage on Saturday, with rivals Cameroon defeating the Senegalese courtesy of a penalty shootout victory.

The highly anticipated battle of the Lions, the Teranga Lions versus the Indomitable Lions, was played at the Stade de Franceville, with many pundits believing that AFCON favourites Senegal would be too strong for their opponents.

The Senegalese enjoyed a great deal of possession and dominance, but they could not convert that into a goal in regulation or extra time, with a goalless stalemate giving way to penalties.

Cameroon won the shootout, beating Senegal 5-4 on penalties to advance to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations semi-final when star player Sadio Mane missed his spot-kick.

Cameroon will now play against Ghana in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Burkina Faso advances at the expense of Tunisia

Burkina Faso surprised many by continuing their great form in the 2017 AFCON, beating Tunisia 2-0 at the Stade d’Angondjé in Libreville on Saturday evening.

Two second half goals from Aristide Bance and Prejuce Nakoulma made sure of the victory, condemning the Carthage Eagles to a quarter-final exit.

Paulo Duarte’s Stallions will now prepare for a semi-final matchup against Egypt on Wednesday.

Ghana and Egypt into the semis

Ghana navigated their way into the semi-finals of the competition with a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Stade d’Oyem on Sunday.

The Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan, proved to be the heroes on the evening for the Black Stars.

Jordan Ayew opened the scoring for Ghana in the second half, with a great run and curling shot from distance that went into the back of the next for Ghana’s opener. That didn’t last long however, and a stinging strike from Paul-José M’Poku equalised for the Congolese.

Ghana were determined to make it to the semi-finals for the sixth AFCON tournament in succession, and they managed when Andre Ayew scored from the penalty spot late in the game to secure a 2-1 victory.

The Black Stars will play Cameroon on Thursday.

The final team to secure their AFCON ticket was Egypt, as the Pharaohs continued their defensive mastery to beat Morocco 1-0 in Port-Gentil on Sunday night.

Substitute Mahmoud ‘Kahraba’ Abdel-Moneim settled matters on the night, scoring a late goal for Hector Cuper’s side to earn Egypt’s first win over their North African rivals for more than 30 years.

The victory set up a highly-anticipated clash with Burkina Faso in the last four on Wednesday.