FRANCEVILLE:Michael Ngadeu and Christian Bassogog both netted in the second half as Cameroon beat Ghana 2-0 in Franceville on Friday (Feb 2) to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final.
\nA finely-poised tie remained goalless until the 72nd minute, when Ghana goalkeeper Razak Brimah failed to deal with a free-kick into his area and John Boye\u00a0s weak defensive header merely served as an assist for Ngadeu to control and fire home.
\nBassogog then broke away to clinch the win and spark wild celebrations as Hugo Broos\u00a0s side progress to a final against Egypt in Libreville on Sunday. That will be the Indomitable Lions\u00a0 first Cup of Nations final since they lost 1-0 to the Egyptians in 2008. Then they also beat Ghana in the semi-finals.
\nGhana, who have still never beaten Cameroon at the competition, will now go to Port-Gentil for a third-place play-off against Burkina Faso on Saturday.
\nThis was their sixth consecutive Cup of Nations semi-final, but their wait to win the trophy for the first time since 1982 will go on.
\nJust as in their quarter-final win against DR Congo, Ghana were once again without Asamoah Gyan at kick-off as their captain struggled to shake off a groin injury.
\nIn his absence, the Black Stars were second best for most of the first half and Cameroon were unfortunate not to be in front after a lively start to the match.
\nAdolphe Teikeu saw his header from a Benjamin Moukandjo corner cleared off the line by Harrison Afful and Razak had to get down to save when Robert Ndip Tambe swept a Moukandjo cross towards goal.
\nMoukandjo, the France-based captain of this inexperienced Cameroon side, also headed onto the roof of the net as the Ghanaians weathered the storm.
\nWith Andre Ayew struggling to get into the game from his position on the left flank, Avram Grant\u00a0s side made little impression going forward until five minutes before half-time.
\nThat was when Christian Atsu\u00a0s pass into the box split the Cameroonian defence and found Jordan Ayew, whose shot from a tight angle whistled just wide of Fabrice Ondoa\u00a0s far post.
\nIn a reversal of roles, Ghana were the better team at the start of the second half with the lightning quick winger Atsu their main source of danger.
\nWhen one of his runs was illegally halted outside the area, Mubarak Wakaso whipped in the resulting free-kick and Ondoa flew high to his right to turn the ball behind.
\nThe Indomitable Lions steadied themselves and got the breakthrough from a set-piece of their own, the goal Cameroon\u00a0s first in almost five hours since Ngadeu netted the winner against Guinea-Bissau in the group stage.
\nGhana then sent on Gyan for the closing stages but as they pushed men forward Bassogog broke downfield and beat Razak to make it 2-0 in the third minute of added time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FRANCEVILLE:Michael Ngadeu and Christian Bassogog both netted in the second half as Cameroon beat Ghana 2-0 in Franceville on Friday (Feb 2) to reach the Africa Cup of Nations final. A finely-poised tie remained goalless until the 72nd minute, when Ghana goalkeeper Razak Brimah failed to deal with a free-kick into his area and John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n