Cameroon to win outright @ 8.50 Betfair 4/10
Cameroon to win group C @ 1.76 10bet 7/10
Well I’ve been thinking about this for quite a few weeks now and I’ve finally come to a conclusion. To be honest I’ve had Cameroon in mind for a while and I’ll tell my reasons why. Ok firstly I’m going to start off with the squad. Right at the back they have arguably the best goalkeeper (Kameni) in the tournament which could be so important - especially if they become involved in any penalty shoot outs. The backline looks relatively strong with plenty of experience, Rigobert Song especially knows how these tournaments work. The midfield also looks to be solid with the likes of Jean Makoun in it. Upfront they will rely on one man to score goals - Samuel Eto’o. But then again he can be relied upon as long as he can avoid injury. I always like the idea of 1 star man leading an attack force and he is the perfect example of how it can be done. Arguably there are better teams in specific areas than Cameroon, but as an all round strength, they look to be in good shape. The next thing to look at is the draw of this CAN. Cameroon are for me, in arguably the weakest of all the groups. Egypt are unlikely to cause to many problems this time around and whilst Sudan could surprise, I would imagine Cameroon should be able to make light work of them.
I’m pretty sure Cameroon will win the group and they would then face the runners up of Group D - likely to be Tunisia or Angola perhaps. This would be one of the easier quarter final draws, so it would appear Cameroon have a nice route into the semis. To be honest, then it gets tough, but that goes for everyone and a meeting with the Ivory Coast would probably happen. But Cameroon have the ability IMO and I like odds of 8.50 on the exchanges. Should they get to the final then I’d be able to make a guaranteed profit by laying off so I’m willing to stake 4/10 here. For them to win the group @ 1.77 is far too big as well, like I said, unless Egypt prove to be especially difficult then it should be a very straightforward ride.
Senegal to win outright @ 16.50 Betfair 2/10
Senegal to win Group D @ 2.76 10bet 4/10
This team is my dark horse for the tournament and I feel there is some definite value. Again, I’ll start with the squad and again I’ll go with a team that has a keeper who I rate highly. Tony Sylva could be very useful in this and I know for a fact he’s a decent penalty saver. Senegal appear to have no massive stars on paper, but they have a lot of good players in all eras of the pitch. They should work well as a team, and with a third of their squad playing at French clubs, I know a lot of them very well. I think in attack, Mamadou Niang could prove to be especially useful and he’s been on fire for Marseille this year.
Senegal have a good draw and group D is the only one not to contain a ‘massive nation’ South Africa and Angola look to be pretty weak so only Tunisia should realistically stop Senegal winning the group. It is important to clam the win because if they finish 2nd then a game against Cameroon in the quarters would be very difficult. But they will probably end up facing Egypt or maybe Sudan if they end up surprising. For me, Senegal have an excellent chance of making it to the semis. All they need do is get to the final and I’ll be able to lay off nicely, I believe that they have the ability to go all the way. There are a lot of things in their favour and I expect Senegal to be strong in this CAN. Odds of 2.76 on them winning the group are way too big IMO and this looks like a top bet as well.