Cameroon, Burkina Faso Cruise To AFCON Semis

Ekambi (INSET) scored a brace to send Cameroon to the semi finals

Karl Toko Ekambi scored a brace for Cameroon as they comfortably beat lowly-ranked Gambia 2-0 in Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal to become the first side to book a place in the last four.

The two goals came in a seven-minute burst in the second half as Cameroon finally converted their superiority into goals in front of an ecstatic crowd at the Japoma Stadium.

Toko Ekambi got his first goal with a 50th minute header and then, in the 57th minute, snuck in behind the Gambian defence to tap home a square pass for the second goal.

Cameroon will meet Egypt after they beat Morocco in extra time to reach the semi finals.

The tournament hosts completely dominated the encounter against Gambia, who, at the 150th position in the FIFA rankings, were the lowest-rank team coming into the 24-team tournament.

Gambia, making their debut at the finals, had upset wins over Tunisia and Guinea on their way to the last eight but were almost anonymous on Saturday as they saw little of the ball and spent almost all of the match on the back foot.

Had Cameroon made better use of their opportunities, the score line might have been more emphatic.

Aboubakar had three good first-half chances to open the score and add to his tournament goal tally of six.

In the second game on the same day, Burkina Faso posted a 1-0 win over their Tunisian counterparts to pick a semis ticket.

And they will face the winner of the Senegal-Equatorial Guinea clash.