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.
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