Morocco will contest the final against the tournament’s surprise package, Gabon but before that match Egypt and Senegal will battle it out for the precious third place which carries with it the automatic ticket to London 2012 Olympic finals. Never has coming third mean so much and the encounter between these two sides is expected to be a final within itself. To add to the intrigue the two sides clashed recently in friendly matches with both games finishing in a draw, but come Saturday they will have to be separated one way or the other.
The match will be live on: www.NileSports.TV
Morocco will be without outstanding striker Abdelaziz Barrada, whose two quick goals in the opening ten minutes flattened Egypt. Barrada is returning to his Spanish club side Getafe as part of the agreement reached before hand. The hosts will still start out as favorites with Youness Mokhtar, Adnane Tighadouini and captain Driss Fettouhi all available and promising to win the Championship at home come Saturday. The Dutchman in charge of Morocco Pim Verbeek said he will be fielding his strongest side and will not be taking the foot off the pedal simply because they are through to London Olympic finals. Gabon will be hoping their fairy tale has one more twist and as their captain Cedric Boussoughou put it “ No-one gave us any chances of getting this far. We are however driven by determination and undying spirit to do well.
90% of our players are locally based in Gabon and we will carry on playing as a team they way we have reached the final.” The Gabonese’ strength has been built on a resilient defence where Nenet Ekwa Ebenga and his partner Didier Ndong have been efficient and solid. In Diderot Lengoualama , Allen Nono and Junior Ndong Gabon has poachers who are quite lethal at counter-attack football. Their coach Claude Albert Mbourounot has led Gabon to their first ever major football competition final and might still have another ace up his sleeve but whatever the final result, a hero’s welcome awaits him and his team back in Gabon. He says they will play the final with little pressure and this might just suit them well.
