Razeen Gutta
Two penalty strikes from Vincent Aboubakar helped the indomitable lions of Cameroon to a 2-1 win in the opener, while Cabo Verde beat Ethiopia 1-0 in the second game of the opening day of Afcon 2021.
The four-time champions and this year’s hosts had to come back from behind against Burkina Faso after Gustavo Sangare put the ball past Andre Onana after just 24 minutes in Yaounde.
The Ajax keeper was rattled in the leadup to the goal as Burkina Faso had two quick-fire chances before scoring. However, the man between the sticks was rock solid after conceding and kept his side in the game thereafter.
The first spot kick came at the 40-minute mark after VAR double-checked Bertrand Traore’s challenge on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. Burkina Faso’s star attacker was deemed guilty of a foul and the Cameroon skipper Aboubakar slotted it home to level proceedings.
In first half stoppage time Aboubakar struck again when Nouhou Tolo drew a foul in the box.
The indomitable lions held on in the second period for an important win in front of the home fans.
In the second game of the group, Ethiopia were left down to ten men just 12 minutes into their encounter with Cabo Verde. Referee Helder Martins de Cavarlho was told by the VAR to change the yellow card he had awarded to Yared Bayeh to a red one after his foul on Julio Tavares.
Tavares went on to score the only goal of the game just before halftime with a well-placed header after a sleek assist from Olympiakos’ Garry Rodrigues.
Tomorrow sees teams from groups B and C play their first games of the tournament with Senegal and Zimbabwe in action first at 15:00. Guinea face Malawi while Morocco play Ghana at 18:00 before Comoros take on Gabon at 21:00.
Image source: @ShabanMo9
