Cameroon outplayed Burkina Faso 2-0 in their first match of the AFRON 2019 tournament. The men’s football game was played at a packed Amahoro stadium, and ended with an electric atmosphere as fans were left delighted with the result.
Afcon 2021: Cameroon beat Burkina Faso 2 is a football match that took place on July 8, 2019. The game was the first of the group stage matches in the Africa Cup of Nations 2021.
Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar is aiming for his sixth Nations Cup championship.
Cameroon came from behind to defeat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the Africa Cup of Nations’ first match.
Gustavo Sangare’s spectacular goal put the Burkinabe ahead halfway through the first half at Yaounde.
Before halftime, though, captain Vincent Aboubakar’s two unerring penalties turned the game around for the hosts.
Andre Onana, the Indomitable Lions’ goalkeeper, produced two key second-half stops as Toni Conceicao’s team won their first game in Group A.
In the day’s second game at the Olembe Stadium, a Cape Verde squad ravaged by Covid-19 cases beat 10-man Ethiopia 1-0, with forward Julio Tavares scoring a stunning header in first-half stoppage time.
On Monday, 2019 runners-up Senegal will face Morocco at 16:00 GMT, while four-time winners Ghana will face Morocco.
Table of Contents
Cameroon hosts a fun curtain-raiser.
The coronavirus epidemic forced the Nations Cup to be postponed for a year, but after a colorful opening ceremony, the first game provided an exciting match.
Steeve Yago of Burkina Faso was fortunate to only get a yellow card for a first-minute slide tackle on Collins Fai, which was the first of numerous aggressive tackles that lost the Stallions the game.
After Bertrand Traore’s header from a corner was cleared off the line by Nouhou Tolo and Sangare touched the crossbar with a cross, Burkina Faso seized the lead after their first prolonged spell of pressure.
Sangare displayed superb skill to shoot a first-time volley inside the left-hand upright after Traore scooped up the loose ball on the right wing and crossed to the back post for him.
With a beautiful left-footed volley, Gustavo Sangare scored the tournament’s first goal.
Cameroon remained unfazed, and Traore’s clumsy tackle on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa gave them an opportunity to equalize five minutes before the interval.
After a video assistant referee review, the penalty was granted, and Aboubakar sent goalkeeper Herve Koffi the wrong way from the spot, stroking the ball into the right-hand side of the net.
In first-half injury time, Issoufou Dayo dived in on Tolo after the Cameroon defender had played the ball, giving the hosts a penalty.
Aboubakar, who scored the game-winning goal when Cameroon last won the Nations Cup in 2017, made no mistakes with his penalty kick this time.
Following the restart, Onana saved Traore’s long-range free-kick and then stopped Cyrille Bayala from close range.
As the Indomitable Lions attempted to put the game to bed, Aboubakar was denied a hat-trick by a close VAR offside ruling, while Zambo Anguissa blasted well wide.
The hosts, who are attempting to win the continental title for the sixth time, will play Ethiopia on Thursday.
Ethiopia pays the price for being dismissed early.
Julio Tavares was a member of the Cape Verde team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 Nations Cup.
Due to the absence of Coach Bubista and nine Cape Verde players due to Covid, the Blue Sharks were only allowed to select six replacements for their match against Ethiopia.
Yared Bayeh failed to handle a wayward back header and hauled down Julio Tavares just outside the area in the eighth minute, reducing the east Africans to ten men.
After a long VAR assessment, Angolan referee Helder Martins de Carvalho increased the centre-card back’s from yellow to red.
Substitute Mignot Debebe nearly scored an own goal, but Ethiopian goalkeeper Teklemariam Shanko clawed his miscued clearance away on the line, and Shanko then stopped superbly from midfielder Dylan Tavares.
The islanders took the lead when Garry Rodrigues volleyed a long ball from the left wing across goal, and striker Tavares was on hand to finish from close range.
Ethiopia had little influence on the game as it progressed in front of a thin audience, the most of whom had left following Cameroon’s earlier triumph.
After the first match, the dugouts of the Olembe Stadium were sanitized.
The tournament’s mid-season scheduling has been criticized by European teams, while the advent of the Omicron form of Covid-19 is affecting fans and players.
Cameroon’s matches are limited to 80 percent capacity, while all other games are limited to 60 percent capacity. Supporters must also be double-vaccinated and have a negative test.
The limits didn’t appear to bother a boisterous crowd cheering for the hosts, although the Burkinabe were without coach Kamou Malo and six players due to failed drug tests – and a number of players will miss Monday’s game as well.
Due to Covid-19 instances and injuries in their roster, Senegal, who were defeated by Algeria in the 2019 final, would only have 17 players available for their Group B opening against Zimbabwe.
Malaria outbreaks have also plagued Guinea and Malawi, while Morocco’s Aymen Barkok and Auyoub El Kaabi have been ruled out of their Group C opening.
In other news, Gabon captain Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang will not play debutants Comoros after testing positive on Thursday upon arriving in Cameroon.
The tournament’s opening ceremony in Olembe Stadium was filled with colours representing the Cameroon flag
Fireworks were set off after Cameroon’s victory
Watch This Video-
Afcon is a football tournament that takes place every four years. The next afcon will be held in Cameroon from June 7th to July 19th, 2021. Reference: how long does afcon last.
Related Tags
- afcon 2021 fixtures
- afcon 2022
- how long is afcon 2022
- afcon 2021 groups
- why is afcon every 2 years
