By DPA
Accra (Ghana) : Cameroon captain Rigobert Song believes that his side has more than a good chance of winning Thursday’s African Cup of Nations semi-final against hosts Ghana.
The Indomitable Lions beat Tunisia 3-2 in extra time Monday through two goals by Stephen Mbia and one by Newcastle winger Geremi Njitap to advance to the semi-finals.
Song, who has played in every minute of every game for Cameroon at the Nations Cup since 1996 for a total of 31 games, said that he was happy that the side had proved the pundits wrong against Tunisia.
“Nobody was talking about us at the start of the tournament. Everybody was speaking about Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. But we are still in the competition and we now want to go all the way. I think we can do it, but it will not be easy,” he said.
Cameroon will go into Thursday’s game against the Black Stars in the Ohene Djan stadium in Accra as underdogs and a capacity crowd of 45,000 will be in the stadium trying to cheer the hosts to victory.
Ghana coach Claude Le Roy, who turns 60 a day before the game, will be without inspirational caption John Mensah, who was red-carded during Sunday’s 2-1 quarter-final victory against Nigeria.
“Although I think Mensah is one of the best five defenders in the world at the moment, I have enough quality in my squad to replace him. I am sure that we will have 11 players when we start the semi-final and I am sure those players will do the country proud,” he said.
The other semi-final will be a repeat of the 2006 final between Ivory Coast and Egypt in Kumasi.
The defending champions Egypt beat Angola 2-1 in quarter-finals Monday while the Ivorians trounced Guinea 5-0 a day earlier.
The Ivory Coast has looked unstoppable throughout this tournament and Didier Drogba’s refusal to travel to Togo to pick up the African Player of the Year award Friday night as he wanted to prepare for the game against Guinea shows just how seriously the Elephants are treating this competition.
Egyptian midfielder Sayed Moawad said after they had beaten Angola that they were now looking forward to defending the title: “The Ivory Coast is also very strong, and they will be looking for revenge for the defeat two years ago, but we will be prepared for it.”
Two years ago, the North Africans won 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw and a controversial penalty decision for the Egyptians during extra time, which Ahmed Hassan put against the post.
Moawad though, is adamant they want to win again. “We came here to defend our title and we’re on the right path,” he said.
Ivorian coach Gerard Gili, who took over just a few days before the tournament started after German coach Uli Stielike resigned for personal reasons, said that his side was strong enough to win the title.
“We have the team to go all the way. To win the Cup, you need a 23-man squad, not just only 11 players and everybody needs to be at his best,” he said.
He said that the team had benefited from their experience at the World Cup, where they narrowly lost to Argentina and the Netherlands but beat Serbia & Montenegro.
“From the World Cup, Ivory Coast have learnt how to deal with big events. They know how to handle big games, on and off the field,” he said.