[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Cameroon relishing underdog status" ids="117615,117616,117617"] LIBREVILLE — Cameroon captain Benjamin Moukandjo said his inexperienced side is relishing its underdog tag ahead of Sunday's African Nations Cup final and believes the lack of big-name players may give them the edge over seven-time champion Egypt. Unfancied Cameroon was beset by selection problems before the tournament following the withdrawal of key players including Joel Matip, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Allan Nyom, but have defied expectations to reach its first final since 2008 after beating Ghana 2-0 in the semifinal Thursday. With coach Hugo Broos also deciding to axe defenders Aurelien Chedjou and Henri Bedimo, an inexperienced Cameroon side is only one game away from winning its first continental crown since 2002. "We haven't been favorites since the beginning of the Nations Cup and that suits us," he said. "We will take our role of outsiders and we'll play (the final) like we've played the other matches so far. "In this team, there are only eight players who have competed in a Nations Cup or a World Cup, so it's a young group, a new group," he said. "We're forging our own little pathway, and it's working." In the absence of Cameroon's more established names, unheralded players have been introduced to the team to great effect. Defender Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui has scored two key goals including the opener against Ghana, while forward Christian Bassogog, who also found the net in the semifinal, has been one of the tournament's outstanding players. The squad's more recognized names have been used sparingly, with former captain Nicolas Nkoulou dropped to the bench, Vincent Aboubakar playing a peripheral role and Clinton Njie unused since the second group game. "Against Ghana, we saw (Aboubakar play), a few games ago it was (Nkoulou) who came in and contributed an assist even though he didn't start," Moukandjo continued. "Every time the coach has called on a player he's stepped up, and that's what's given us strength." Egypt's grand old man When Essam El Hadary, the Egypt goalkeeper who will start in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final, made his international debut, his current teammate Ramadan Sobhi had not yet been born. First capped in 1996, El Hadary was the man whose saves in a penalty shootout against Burkina Faso Wednesday took the Pharaohs through to a date with Cameroon in Libreville. The combined age of the two Burkinabe players he thwarted — Bertrand Traore and goalkeeper Herve Koffi are 21 and 20 respectively — still does not match that of El Hadary, who is unique in still going strong at 44. Named on the bench at kickoff, he soon came on for the injured Ahmed El Shennawy to break the previous record set by fellow Egyptian Hossam Hassan, who was barely 39 and a half when he played at the 2006 tournament. He has remained the last line of defense in Hector Cuper's solid and hard-working side and had gone 653 minutes without conceding in the Cup of Nations until Aristide Bance's strike for Burkina Faso in the semifinal. A regular for Cairo giants Al Ahly for over a decade, he had been in goal for each of Egypt's three consecutive Cup triumphs, in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
