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Captain Vincent Aboubakar scored two penalties in Cameroon’s 2-1 win over Burkina Faso in Yaounde (Photo: AFP / Kenzo Tribouillard)
YAOUNDE: Captain Vincent Aboubakar scored two penalties as hosts Cameroon on Sunday (January 9) defeated Covid-struck Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opening game of the Africa Cup in Yaounde.
Gustavo Sangare had brought Burkina Faso into the lead in the Group A game at the Olembe Stadium, but Aboubakar was the same five minutes before the break after a VAR check with a penalty.
The 29-year-old, who scored the winning goal in the 2017 Nations Cup final against Egypt, then scored the decisive goal in stoppage time in the first half, just one Hattrick denied him an offside flag after breaking.
It’s the perfect start for the Indomitable Lions to win their sixth continental title on home soil. Cameroon can finally host a tournament that was stolen from them and turned over to Egypt in 2019 before it was postponed a year ago due to the pandemic.
Covid restrictions limited the crowd at Olembe Stadium to 80 percent of the 60,000 capacity , but that didn’t spoil the party for the hosts and a celebratory fireworks display lit the sky full-time.
The 88-year-old President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, who has ruled the Central African country for 40 years, also took part in the game and the opening ceremony FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Patrice Motsepe of the African Football Association attended.
However, Aboubakar, the former Porto striker who now plays his club football in Saudi Arabia, was the star of the show when Cameroon was in Group A, in who also play Ethiopia and Cape Verde, immediately took the initiative.
Burkina Faso suffered a blow on the eve of the tournament when it was discovered that coach Kamou Malo and several players tested positive for the corona virus, so that assistant coach Firmin Sanou takes over the management of the team.
But in the 24th minute they took the lead when Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana missed a cross from Bertrand Traore from the right and French midfielder Sangare deflected the ball at the far post.
Nevertheless, Cameroon, coached by Portuguese Toni Conceicao, turned the game upside down at halftime with the help of VAR.
The Algerian referee gave the Indomitable Lions one Penalty for a foul by Traore on Naples’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Aboubakar scored to equalize in the 40th minute.
In stoppage time in the first half he scored again from 12 meters after a reckless foul by Issoufou Dayo. </ Burkina Faso threatened to make a comeback in the second half when Traore Onana tested with a free kick from distance and Adama Guira parried an attempt by the goalkeeper, but the home side saved en through.
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