The Africa Cup of Nations 2017 threw up some massive surprises in the competition, and a similar drama was witnessed in the finals when Egypt faced Cameroon on Sunday. It was some spirited second half performance from Cameroon, and a late goal from substitute Vincent Aboubakar, which helped them beat Egypt 2-1 to clinch their first AFCON title in 15 years.
Cameroon, even before the competition started, had to deal with a number of problems including some key players deciding not to play in Gabon. They also had problems with their bonus. However, when they set their foot on the pitch, it was a different matter altogether. Not only did they win the title, defeating seven-time champions Egypt, Cameroon also got the better of Senegal and Ghana in the knockout stages to reach the final.
Cameroon were second favourites during the final to clinch the title, and Egypt looked a confident unit in the first half. They took lead in the 22nd minute with Mohamed Elneny, Arsenal man, scoring the first goal of the final. With Egypt being solid at the back, it was all about them as they were not giving many chances to Cameroon for the equaliser. Despite some good possession for Cameroon, they were not able to threaten Egypt's solid defence.
With Cameroon in serious need of an equaliser in the AFCON final, they came out all guns blazing in the second half. Egypt had to defend in numbers, but the determined Cameroon players were trying their best to draw level early.
And it was some relentless pressure that led to a goal for Cameroon. Substitute Nicolas Nkoulou scored the all-important header in the 59th minute to make the match very interesting. After the goal, Egypt could not afford to just defend in the second half, they had to create chances and score.
That goal lifted the entire Cameroon players, who got the belief back that they can stun Egypt to win their fifth title. It was mostly one way traffic in the second half with Cameroon dominating attacking possession. They finally went ahead of Egypt with Aboubakar scoring in the 88th minute to break Egypt's hearts and bring tears of joy for Cameroon after the final whistle.
