Egypt face Cameroon test as big four clash in Cairo

In Cairo, Egypt

It’s been eight years since Egypt won the African Nations Championship title and another six since they last played in the final.

Head coach Flavio Gulinelli will be out to erase these two worrying statistics when the Pharaohs line up against Cameroon in the second semi-final of the ongoing African Nations Championship here in Cairo on Monday night.

The Italian has his work cut out as Egypt look to reclaim the African title they last won in 2015 in Cairo. In the last three editions, Egypt lost 3-0 to Tunisia in the 2017 final at home before being eliminated at the semi-final stage in 2019 and 2021.

With the tournament returning to Cairo after six years and defending champions Tunisia--who had won the last three editions--out of the way, the general expectation among Egyptian volleyball fans is that the Pharaohs will finally win gold.

But in Cameroon, they face a side that convincingly eliminated Tunisia in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory on Saturday and head coach Malloum Abbas termed it as a statement of intent.

“We are not here just for this Tunisia match. We are happy to have gotten our revenge but we are here to go all the way to the final and win this cup,” said Abbas post-match.

Gulinelli was busy taking notes as Cameroon dominated Tunisia, coached by his compatriot Antonio Giacobbe, in the quarter-finals. He reckons that the Indomitable Lions will be a tough opponent given they are strong in all departments.

“Cameroon demonstrated (against Tunisia) that they are a consistent team. They looked good in reception, blocking, serving, attacking and defending so it will not be easy but we are ready mentally, physically and technically,” said Gulinelli.  

“Egypt has its own strengths but we have to control our emotions which will allow us to control the match. We expect difficult moments so we have to be strong mentally to overcome them,” said Gulinelli who went on to decry the lack of home support.

“The fact that we are playing at home means we should get support from our fans. I hope the hall will be full of spectators. Our ultimate goal is to win the title but we are taking one match at a time,” he added.  

Abbas said his charges are determined not to lose another match after their 3-1 defeat to Libya in the preliminaries.  

“Since we lost to Libya in the group, it was a wake-up call not to take anything for granted. We showed good character against Tunisia and if we maintain this, we can beat any team in this championship,” asserted Abbas who will be looking to guide Cameroon to their third consecutive final.

The first semi-final match will see Algeria and surprise package Libya renew their rivalry.

It will be the third meeting between these two teams this year after clashing twice at the Pan Arab Games held in Algeria in July. Libya beat Algeria 3-0 in the final to emerge champions after losing by a similar margin in the preliminary round.

Both sides head into the Monday semi-final unbeaten and Libya coach Ghazi Koubaa said they are determined to continue their fairy-tale run with victory against Algeria who last reached the final in 2009.

“Our target was to reach the semi-final stage but now that we are here, we want to go a step higher and reach the final or even win the competition. Our dream is to be the best in Africa and to be the best you have to beat strong teams,” began Koubaa.  

“Algeria is a very good team. They play as a team and they have a good setter, opposite and outside hitter. We need to pressure them with services to prevent the setter from playing a fast game. We also have to ensure that our wing spikers don’t play with two blocks so that we can score easily,” noted the Tunisian coach.  

“It’s been a good year for Libyan volleyball and we want to make history by playing in the final and qualify for the FIVB World Championship for the first time,” he underlined.  

Algeria coach Bernaoui Krimo admitted that Libya had shown great improvement since the Pan Arab Games final and deserved to be in the semi-finals.

“It’s important that we have a good start because when we lost the first set of the Pan Arab Games final, it was difficult for my players to recover. After winning the Pan Arab Games, the mentality of the Libyan team changed. We’ve seen them in this championship getting good results against Kenya and Cameroon.

“It’s a strong team and we expect a difficult and tactical match that will be determined by fine margins. However, Algeria has a rich history in volleyball so we are determined to go all the way and bring back those memories,” said Krimo.

Meanwhile, Wafalme Stars will play against Senegal in the second 9th to 15th place semi-final while Ghana will take on Gambia in the other semi.

Semi-final fixtures

Algeria v Libya 5pm

Egypt v Cameroon 7pm
 
9th to 15th place semi-finals

Ghana v Gambia 5pm

Kenya v Senegal 7pm