Defending champions Senegal became the second qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 as Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diallo and Sadio Mane scored in a 3-1 win over Cameroon on Friday.

A few hours earlier, Cape Verde were the first country to secure a last-16 place by hammering Mozambique 3-0 in Abidjan.

Sarr netted in the first half and Diallo and Mane in the second in Yamoussoukro to give the title-holders a maximum six points after two Group C matches. The losers have only one.

Jean-Charles Castelletto scored late in the second half to halve the deficit to 2-1, but Senegal were not to be denied a convincing victory and Mane put the outcome beyond doubt.

Guinea face the Gambia later in the second match of a double-header and a victory would lift them three points above Cameroon with just one round of matches remaining.

Cameroon recalled Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, who missed a draw with Guinea after arriving late in west Africa, but slack defending contributed to the goals he conceded.

Senegal kicked off with five of the team that started the 2022 final against Egypt in Yaounde, which they won in a penalty shootout with Mane scoring the decisive spot kick.

Cameroon had to do without star forward Vincent Aboubakar again as he had not recovered from a thigh injury that ruled him out of a draw with Guinea four days ago.

Sarr reacts quickly

More adventurous from the kick-off in the central Ivorian city, Senegal went ahead on 16 minutes through quick-reacting Sarr.

After Cameroon failed twice to clear a corner, Sarr swivelled inside the box and his low shot deflected off Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa before landing in the corner of the net.

Frank Magri, the Cameroon scorer against Guinea, had a half-chance just before the half hour mark, but was beaten to a loose ball by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

A couple of minutes later, the Sudanese referee halted play for a welcome water break with the temperature 34 Celsius (94 Fahrenheit) when the match started.

Enzo Tchato rescued Cameroon as half-time approached, superbly blocking a goal-bound shot from two-time African Player of the Year Mane.

A tight first half ended with just one shot on target — the goal — from three attempts by each team.

Senegal increased their lead on 71 minutes with a goal born out of patience around the Cameroon penalty area.

A string of short passes culminated in Sarr delivering a low cross and unmarked Diallo pushed the ball into the net from close range.

Castelletto struck on 83 minutes, giving former Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy no chance with a close-range header, but hopes of snatching a draw were dashed by Mane in added time.

Source: AFP

Egypt twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw with Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday after losing captain Mohamed Salah to injury in the first half.

Mohammed Kudus scored both goals for Ghana, drilling in the opener from 20 metres soon after Salah went off in the Group B clash at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.

Omar Marmoush pounced on an error to equalise for Egypt midway through the second half, but Kudus struck again right away to restore Ghana’s lead.

The Black Stars were left to rue another mistake as Mostafa Mohamed levelled on 74 minutes, leaving Ghana with just one point from two matches.

Egypt are only one point better off after back-to-back draws, but their immediate concern will be the health of Salah — whose stoppage-time penalty had snatched a 2-2 draw with Mozambique.

Ghana have now won just one of their last 11 AFCON matches. They were stunned 2-1 in their first game by Cape Verde, the smallest nation in the tournament who can clinch a last-16 place and top spot in the group with victory over Mozambique on Friday.

Chris Hughton made three changes to his Ghana side as he recalled Kudus and Spain-born striker Inaki Williams, knowing another loss would leave them staring at a second successive first-round exit.

The past four AFCON meetings between the countries had yielded just five goals, a trend that looked set to continue in a quiet first half in which Emam Ashour’s 43rd-minute shot was the first on target.

Salah goes off

Moments later though Egypt lost their talisman Salah and then almost immediately fell behind.

The Liverpool forward slumped to the grass as Ghana countered-attacked, clutching the back of his left leg and resigned to the fact his night at the very least was over.

With Egypt still reeling from the loss of Salah, it was Ghana’s key man Kudus who seized the spotlight, shifting the ball away from a couple of defenders and rifling a left-footed drive into the near corner.

The West Ham attacking midfielder missed the Cape Verde loss through injury, but here he demonstrated how central he is to the Black Stars’ fading hopes of a fifth AFCON title — 42 years after they last won the trophy.

Kudus volleyed an effort into the ground and just over the crossbar before Ahmed Hegazi, who took over the armband from Salah, had a goal ruled out for offside early in the second half.

Marmoush forced Richard Ofori to tip over a stinging attempt, but Egypt took advantage of a Ghana lapse to draw level on 69 minutes.

Williams hit an ill-advised backpass that was pounced upon by Marmoush, who nervelessly rounded Ofori and slotted home.

Kudus put Ghana in front again two minutes later after receiving Denis Odoi’s pass in the area, with his shot glancing off Mohamed Abdelmonem and deceiving Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.

Ghana were the architects of their own downfall once more though.

Substitute Osman Bukari was caught in possession in his own box, allowing Mahmoud Trezequet to nip in and pull the ball back for Mohamed to steer between the legs of Ofori.

Ashour nearly snatched victory at the death but his curling attempt was held well by Ofori, sparing Ghana from another defeat and keeping them in contention for the knockout phase.

Source: AFP

Rigobert Song has vowed to amend his team’s mistakes in Monday’s African Cup of Nations opener against Guinea, describing the start of the continental tournament as a “difficult” one.

The Indomitable Lions were held to a 1-1 draw against Guinea in their opening match of the group stage campaign.

“The start of the match was difficult for us, especially in the first 30 minutes. You know how it has been at the start of this tournament; it has always been difficult. We saw how some teams started this tournament,” the Cameroonian coach was quoted as saying by CAF’s official website after the match.

“We controlled the flow of the match, but we were not able to score the second goal of the match to take the victory. I hope to do it in the next match,” Song added.

The five-time champions Cameroon are waiting for a heavyweight clash with defending champions Senegal on 19 January, before facing Gambia four days later in their final Group C match.

Song promised to amend his team’s mistakes before the next game, with his eye on turning the team’s campaign toward its first African title since 2002 into a successful one.

“We all saw the match; there is a positive part,” he said.

“We will correct the mistakes, and in the next four days, the players will know their mission,” he added.

“For my part, I will work with my assistants on the technical team to correct the problems we encountered,” Song concluded.

Source: Ahram online

Guinea joined a growing list of surprise sides at the Africa Cup of Nations by drawing 1-1 against five-time champions Cameroon in Group C on Monday despite playing the second half with 10 men.

Mohamed Bayo gave Guinea the lead before captain Francois Kamano was sent off just before half-time. Frank Magri equalised early in the second half, but a winning goal eluded Cameroon.

The brave Guinean showing on day three followed a string of unexpected results on Sunday with Cape Verde defeating Ghana, Mozambique holding Egypt and Equatorial Guinea drawing with Nigeria.

Earlier on Monday, Lamine Camara scored twice as title-holders Senegal outplayed Gambia 3-0 with the losers also having a player sent off late in the first half.

Cameroon did not include Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana in the matchday 23 after he arrived in the Ivorian capital just a few hours before the kick-off.

Onana delayed his arrival so that he could play for United in a 2-2 Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Coach Rigobert Song chose Fabrice Ondoa as his starting goalkeeper with two other shot-stoppers, Devis Epassy and Simon Ngapandouetnbu, on the bench.

Cameroon, seeking a sixth title and second in four editions, were also missing star forward and leading 2022 Cup of Nations scorer Vincent Aboubakar, who was ruled out by a thigh injury.

Guinea suffered a huge pre-match blow when Serhou Guirassy, scorer of 17 goals for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga this season, was ruled out by a knee injury.

Shock lead

In the absence of Guirassy, Bayo was the attacking spearhead and he give the Syli National (national elephants) a shock lead on 10 minutes.

His first goal attempt was parried by Ondoa, but Cameroon failed to clear the ball and when it came back to Bayo, he slammed it into the net.

Subsequently, Cameroon won plenty of possession but were unable to seriously trouble Guinea goalkeeper Ibrahima Kone.

In a Guinea counterattack, audacious Sekou Sylla came close to scoring with a long-range shot that had Ondoa frantically back-tracking before it landed on the roof of the net.

Guinea suffered a huge blow in first half added time when Kamano was sent off after the Egyptian referee changed his initial yellow card to a red for a foul on Magri.

The match official altered his decision after going to the touchline VAR monitor and seeing Kamano stamp from behind on the heel of his opponent.

Cameroon applied pressure from the start of the second half and Magri levelled on 51 minutes with a far-post header across Kone after a pin-point cross by Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.

Kone rescued Guinea as the end of regular time approached, first parrying, then grasping the ball after a close-range shot from Karl Toko Ekambi.

There were water breaks in both halves to assist the players, who had to contend with 36 Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) heat when the match kicked off in the central city.

In the second series of group matches on Friday, Cameroon tackle Senegal and Guinea face Gambia in a Yamoussoukro double-header.

Source: AFP

Lamine Camara scored twice as Senegal kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations title defence with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia in Yamoussoukro on Monday.

Senegal moved top of the early Group C table ahead of Cameroon’s game against Guinea later Monday.

Aliou Cisse’s showed enough quality in the Ivorian heat to suggest they could become the first team to win back-to-back AFCON titles since Egypt reeled off three in a row in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Senegal’s XI featured just five of the starting team which beat Egypt on penalties in the final two years ago and it was youngster Camara who stole the show.

Gambia already face an uphill task to reach the knockout stage two years after a shock run to the quarter-finals on debut.

The holders wasted little time in piling the pressure on their West African neighbours and took the lead in the fourth minute.

Sadio Mane was left in plenty of space at the back post and his lay-off was swept home left-footed by the unmarked Pape Gueye from inside the area.

Gambia endured a troubled build-up to the tournament, boycotting a training session over an unpaid qualification bonus before their flight to the Ivory Coast was forced to turn around just nine minutes after take-off due to technical problems.

But they grew into the game after the early setback, going close to an equaliser when Musa Barrow curled a free-kick into the side-netting.

Gambia were dealt a blow shortly before half-time though when Cardiff City midfielder Ebou Adams was dismissed for a studs-up challenge.

The underdogs continued to threaten after the restart however, as Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was forced to dive to his right to palm away Barrow’s long-range drive, with Ali Sowe slicing the rebound wide.

Senegal effectively killed off the game just moments later, though, as a slick passing move ended with 20-year-old Camara collecting Ismailia Sarr’s pass and drilling a low shot into the far corner.

The Lions of Teranga rounded off the scoring with an early contender for goal of the tournament in the 86th minute.

Clever trickery from Iliman Ndiaye took him away from two defenders and his pass was expertly bent into the top corner from the edge of the ‘D’ by Metz midfielder Camara.

Mohamed Badamosi came close to grabbing an injury-time consolation for the Gambians when he headed wide, but they were ultimately outclassed and will now turn their attentions to their second game against Guinea on Friday.

Senegal will likely face a tougher assignment when they face five-time winners Cameroon.

Source: AFP

It was no memorable performance, but delighted supporters nevertheless clogged the streets and parties continued late as host Ivory Coast opened proceedings at the Africa Cup of Nations finals with a 2-0 victory over Guinea Bissau in Abidjan on Saturday.

Fans lined the route from the Alhassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in the north of the city and mobbed their team’s bus as coach Jean Louis Gasset declared it mission accomplished and spoke of a sense of relief at winning.

Goals in each half from Seko Fofana and Jean Philippe Krasso ensured victory but it was far from a strong statement of intent that the hosts were looking to make.

“The main thing was to win this match. Playing an opening match of a tournament in a packed stadium is no easy task,” said Ivorian coach Jean-Louis Gasset afterwards.

“It was hard psychologically but we tried to do the best we could. We had a very good start to the match where we scored, but it’s true that overall the performance was average.”

Fofana had them ahead in four minutes while Krasso’s acrobatic second goal came early in the second half.

“When we didn’t have the ball, we were a little scattered. We’re going to work on it. But overall, we had seven chances and we hit the post twice.”

Players looked exhausted afterwards by the exertions in high humidity, even a match played late in the evening.

“There is still work to do, it’s the start of the competition. Today we are relieved … relieved to have won this match because we were really under pressure,” added Gasset.

It is a major step up next for the hosts, whose second Group A match in Abidjan on Thursday is against powerful Nigeria.

“We know the strengths of the Nigerians. They have an impressive offensive armada. Their leading striker is the best player in Africa,” Gasset said of recently crowned African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen.

“So we know that we will have to raise our game but, knowing my players, I think we will respond,” the Ivorian coach added.

Source: Reuters