Cameroon, Congo set for bruising battle

Cameroon and Congo will lock horns in a first-leg of the 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier on Sunday afternoon.

The winner will have their place in next year's competition.

With six teams vying for three places from the Central Zone, it's a straight shoot-out with the winners from the Democratic Republic of Congo vs Central African Republic, Chad vs Gabon, and our featured clash confirming their sport among 16 teams in Rwanda.

CHAN is a tournament reserved for locally based players, thus the two teams will have to make due with the footballers plying their trade in their respective domestic leagues.

Congo will be relying heavily on the top local side AC Leopards while the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be counting on Coton Sport among others for their contingent of players.

'Diables Rouges' have qualified for the CHAN tournament on one previous occasion - exiting the 2014 edition in South Africa at the group stages following a 2-2 draw against Libya.

Leading 2-1 heading into stoppage time, Ramadan Fetori scored for Libya as they progressed to the knockout stages alongside Ghana.

As for Cameroon, they qualified for the 2011 edition in Sudan, reaching the quarterfinals before going down to Angola following a marathon penalty shoot-out in Omdurman.

The first-leg in Cameroon is scheduled for a 17h00 kick-off with the return-leg in either Brazzaville or Point-Noire to take place a week later.