Cameroon on Tuesday had to work hard to open their title defense with a 2-0 win at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, while Ghana were the latest team to be upstaged by an underdog.
Cameroon found it difficult to break down Guinea-Bissau until defender Yaya Banana was left unmarked from a corner to head in the opening goal in the 66th minute.
Cameroon’s second came straight after, when substitute striker Stephane Bahoken got a lucky break to score with his first touch three minutes later.
Photo: AFP
The win, which put Cameroon on top of Group F, left coach Clarence Seedorf relieved that something had finally gone right.
“There was a lot of tension,” Seedorf said. “It is always difficult, the first match.”
Cameroon were meant to defend their title on home soil, but were dumped as the host nation because of poor preparation and the Cup was handed to Egypt just six months before kickoff.
That also raised complications for the team, who lost their automatic place and were thrown into a nervous battle to qualify, but they did and managed to also overcome a tricky opening encounter against Guinea-Bissau in their opener.
Cameroon on Monday also announced that striker Joel Tagueu was leaving the tournament after a medical revealed a dangerous heart condition.
In the group’s second game, Ghana fought back from 1-0 down after less than two minutes to lead 2-1 against Benin.
Ghana’s goals came through the Ayew brothers Andre and Jordan, but Ghana defender John Boye was given a second yellow card for wasting time and sent off before Benin equalized for a 2-2 draw.
Ghana were left fuming at what they felt was an injustice over Boye’s red card.
He was lining up to take a free-kick deep in Ghana’s half, when goalkeeper Richard Ofori decided to take it instead. Boye left the free-kick for the ’keeper, who was some way from the ball at the time and jogging slowly toward it.
Tunisian referee Youssef Essrayri decided it was time wasting and punished Boye.
Ghana were not the first team to be caught off guard by one of the lesser-ranked teams at this Cup.
Uganda beat former champions the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the opening day, Burundi made it tough for Nigeria and Madagascar on their tournament debut drew with Guinea.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was