33rd AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions came from behind to beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in an incident-packed opener at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) inside Olembe Stadium in capital city Yaounde.
The host were however jolted by the audacity of the Burkinabes inside the first 20 minutes. An acrobatic volley from Gustavo Sangare put the Burkinabe ahead midway through the first half in Yaounde.
But two unerring penalties from captain Vincent Aboubakar turned the game around for the hosts before half-time.
Indomitable Lions keeper Andre Onana made two crucial second-half saves as Toni Conceicao’s side opened their Group A campaign with victory.
The Nations Cup has been delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, but the first game in the Olembe Stadium, which followed a colourful opening ceremony, served up an absorbing contest.
Burkina Faso defender Steeve Yago was lucky to only see yellow for a first-minute sliding tackle on Collins Fai, which was the first of several rash challenges which ultimately cost the Stallions.
Burkina Faso took the lead following their first sustained period of pressure after Bertrand Traore saw his header from a corner cleared off the line by Nouhou Tolo and Sangare clipped the crossbar with a cross.
Aston Villa forward Traore picked up the loose ball on the right wing and crossed to the back post for Sangare, who showed brilliant technique to send a first-time volley inside the left-hand upright.
In the group’s other game of the night, Julio Tavares’ goal in the added minute of the first half gave Cape Verde a precious 1-0 victory over Ethiopia to collect maximum three points. The Ethiopians played one man down from the 12th minute after Yared Baye was shown a red card.
RESULTS
Cameroon 2-1 B’Faso
Ethiopia 0 -1 Cape Verde
FIXTURES
(MON Jan. 10)
Senegal v Zimbabwe (2pm)
Morocco v Ghana (5pm)
Guinea v Malawi (5pm)
Comoros v Gabon (8pm)
(TUES Jan 11)
Algeria v Sierra Leone (2pm)
Nigeria v Egypt (5pm)
Sudan v G’Bissau (8pm)
ALL THE GROUPS
GROUP A
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Cameroon 1. 1. 0. 0 2. 1. 1. 3
Cape Verde 1. 1. 0. 0 1. 0 1. 3.
B’Faso 1. 0. 0 1. 1. 2. -1. 0
Ethiopia 1. 0. 0 1. 0 1. -1. 0.
GROUP B
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Guinea 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Malawi 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Senegal 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Zimbabwe 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
GROUP C
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Comoros 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Gabon 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Ghana 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Morocco 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
GROUP D
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Egypt 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
G’Bissau 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Nigeria 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Sudan 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
GROUP E
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Algeria 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Ivory Coast 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
E’Guinea 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
S’Leone 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
GROUP F
Team. P. W D L GF GA GD PTS
Gambia 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Mali 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Mauritania 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
Tunisia 0. 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0. 0
