Egypt are the most successful team in Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with seven titles, including a hat-trick. They are two steps away from winning their eight title as they prepare to face Burkina Faso, the surprise pack this year, in the first semifinal of Afcon 2017 at Stade de l'Amitié, Libreville, on Wednesday (February 1). Burkina Faso, who finished as the runners-up in 2013, will meanwhile look to create a massive upset.
Afcon 2017 semifinals schedule
Egypt, who will be playing in their first semifinal since 2010 when they had last won the trophy, have looked impressive in Afcon 2017, topping their group in the preliminary stages ahead of Ghana, Mali and Uganda and defeated a strong Morocco in the quarter-finals.
Burkina Faso also topped their group, ahead of a strong Cameroon and hosts Gabon, who were eventually eliminated, and Guinea-Bissau. They defeated Tunisia 2-0 in the quarters, a win which will certainly will give them much confidence against Egypt, placed 18 places above them in the FIFA ranking.
Egypt have some solid players in their line-up, including Mohamed Salah, Ahmed Elmohamady and Ramadan Sobhi. However, they are going to miss the services of Mohamed Eleny, who plays for Arsenal, due to calf injury. Egypt's coach Hector Cuper will field a strong team and make the necessary changes accordingly.
"I have to adapt. The team choice is my full responsibility. I will see what to do and how. For us, we will work on our players, of course they are very tired, very exhausted, but we will work on the recovery. If in the case we find that some of them are exhausted, then we will have to make some changes for the next game," PA Sport quoted Cuper as saying.
Cuper will be eager to see his team maintain their unbeaten streak though Burkina Faso have also not lost a game in this tournament yet. But the latter will have their task cut out against Egypt who have not conceded a single goal so far.
Burkina Faso will certainly have to shift gears if they are to make their second final at Afcon. Their offensive players like Bertrand Traore should inspire their team to achieve greater things while coach Paulo Duarte would eagerly wait for his outfit to inch closer to history.
"I always build a team that can be mentally strong and has the willingness to win and always stays positive and always wants to go to the next stage. The players are improving with each match and increasing their level of humility. Of course we want to go as far as possible like we did in 2013, but we have to take it step by step, each match as it comes," Duarte said.
Where to watch live
Egypt vs Burkina Faso Afcon 2017 semifinals match is scheduled for a 12:30am IST (7:00pm GMT, 2:00pm ET) start. Live Streaming and TV information.
India: TV: No live coverage.
Africa: TV: SuperSport6 Africa. Live Streaming: SuperSport live video.
UK: TV: EuroSport 2 UK. Live Streaming: EuroSport Player.
Australia, Canada, US: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
