Minnows Guinea-Bissau enjoyed an Africa Cup of Nations debut to remember as they held Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s hosts Gabon to a surprise 1-1 draw in Libreville on Saturday.
Juary Soares scored a last-minute equalizer to cancel out the opener from Borussia Dortmund striker Aubameyang at the Stade de l’Amitie in the Group A curtain-raiser.
It is all square in the group after four-time winners Cameroon had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso in the day’s second game.
Photo: EPA
That means there is still everything to play for, but the final whistle was greeted with jeers from the home support in Libreville, providing a stark contrast with the joy of the Guinea-Bissau players.
For them, just being at the tournament for the first time in their history is a remarkable achievement and the result saw thousands take to the streets of the capital, Bissau, to celebrate.
“This is a moment of joy for us, despite our country’s difficulties we managed to qualify,” Wild Dogs coach Baciro Cande said.
Photo: AFP
Guinea-Bissau fell behind seven minutes into the second half when Denis Bouanga’s low ball to the back post was turned in by Aubameyang for the first goal of the competition, but Gabon then sat back and were punished in the 90th minute when Soares got in front of Bruno Ecuele Manga to head in a Zezinho free-kick.
“We knew Gabon have an excellent team, and the best player in Africa and in Europe,” Cande said. “We have our limits, but we had ambitions coming here and we will try to go as far as possible.”
It was a stuttering start from Gabon as they bid to win the trophy for the first time.
“Our chances of qualifying are the same as if we had won,” Gabon coach Jose Antonio Camacho said.
There have been calls from opponents of Gabonese President Ali Bongo to boycott the tournament amid a social and political crisis in the central African nation of 1.8 million and the 40,000-capacity ground was not completely full for the occasion.
Bongo was there, though, alongside Bissau-Guinean President Jose Mario Vaz and Issa Hayatou, the Cameroonian veteran head of the Confederation of African Football.
Cameroon’s own tournament buildup had been overshadowed by a raft of withdrawals by key players, including Liverpool defender Joel Matip and Schalke 04 striker Eric Choupo-Moting.
New captain Benjamin Moukandjo gave them the lead against Burkina Faso with a fine free-kick 10 minutes before halftime.
Christian Bassogog then looked set to double Cameroon’s lead as he raced clean through on goal, but Burkina Faso goalkeeper Herve Koffi came flying out of his penalty area and denied him with a crunching challenge.
Burkina Faso, the beaten finalists in 2013, equalized on 75 minutes, Issoufou Dayo bundling the ball in after Banou Diawara’s free-kick was saved.
“We dominated the game and created chances. The only thing we needed was someone to put the ball in the net,” Cameroon coach Hugo Broos said.
Before the game, a technical problem prevented the national anthems being played at the stadium, leading organizers to apologize for what they called an “unfortunate incident.”
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