The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon on Sunday produced the performance of their lives in the final of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon, beating the Pharaohs of Egypt 2-1 to lift their fifth African title.
The Cameroonians came from a goal down to win the tournament after Arsenal’s Mohammed Elneny opened the scoring in the first half.
Substitute Nkoulou did the magic for Cameroon in the 59th minute with an equaliser before Vincent Aboubakar’s 88th minute strike ensured the Lions win the tournament for the fifth time.
Aboubakar scored the winner through a well-controlled pass from the defence.
He lobbed the first defender in his way and volleyed the ball on the floor to score.
This is Cameroon’s first AFCON title in 15 years, having won it in 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and their fifth overall, while Egypt were denied their eighth overall African title.
Cameroon will now participate in the upcoming 2017 Confederations Cup.
They first qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1970, but were knocked out in the first round.
Two years later, as host nation, the Indomitable Lions finished third after being knocked out by their neighbours and future champions Congo in the 1972 Africa Cup of Nations.
Burkina Faso had defeated Ghana 1-0 on Saturday to win the third place match.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the competition after losing the Group ticket to Egypt.
Nigeria Football Football (NFF) had appointed a consortium of coaches led by Samson Siasia to qualify the team for the 2017 AFCON, following the resignation of Sunday Oliseh, but the team failed to achieve the NFF dream.
