Five-time champions Cameroon were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Guinea in their opening Africa Cup of Nations encounter at the Stade de Yamoussoukro in Yamoussoukro.
Guinea took the lead through Mohamed Bayo, and shortly before halftime, captain Francois Kamano was sent off. Frank Magri tied the score early in the second half, but Cameroon was unable to score the winning goal.
Day three’s valiant performance by Guinea came after a run of shocking outcomes on Sunday, including Equatorial Guinea’s draw with Nigeria, Cape Verde’s victory over Ghana, and Mozambique’s draw with Egypt.
Senegal, the current champions, defeated Gambia 3-0 earlier on Monday thanks to two goals from Lamine Camara. The losing team also saw a player sent off late in the first half.
Even though Andre Onana of Manchester United arrived in the Ivorian capital just a few hours before kickoff, Cameroon did not include him in the matchday 23 lineup.
Onana postponed his arrival in order to participate for United in Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw at Old Trafford against Tottenham Hotspur.
Fabrice Ondoa was selected by coach Rigobert Song to start in goal, with Devis Epassy and Simon Ngapandouetnbu as backup goalies.
In addition to missing out on a chance to win a sixth title and their second in four editions, Cameroon was also without their top forward and top scorer from the 2022 Cup of Nations, Vincent Aboubakar, due to a thigh injury.
Serhou Guirassy, who has scored 17 goals for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga this season, was ruled out due to a knee injury, which dealt a severe blow to Guinea prior to the game.
When Guirassy was not present, Bayo led the attack and gave the national elephants, or Syli National, a surprising lead after ten minutes.
Ondoa stopped his initial attempt at goal, but Cameroon was unable to clear the ball, and when it returned to him, Bayo hammered it into the goal.
Cameroon then enjoyed a lot of possession but failed to put Guinean custodian Ibrahima Kone through any real problems.
Sekou Sylla, displaying courage, nearly scored during a counterattack for Guinea when he hit a long-range shot that forced Ondoa to make a hasty retreat before it hit the net’s roof.
After Kamano’s first yellow card was changed to a red for a foul on Magri by the Egyptian referee, Guinea suffered a severe blow in first-half added time.
After viewing the play on the touchline VAR monitor and witnessing Kamano stamp his opponent’s heel from behind, the match official changed his mind.
Cameroon exerted pressure early in the second half, and on minute 51, Magri equalised the score with a far-post header over Kone following a pinpoint cross from Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.
As the end of regulation time drew near, Kone saved Guinea by parrying Karl Toko Ekambi’s close-range shot and then grabbing the ball.
The players, who had to deal with 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) of heat when the match began in the central city, were helped by water breaks in both halves.
Guinea takes on Gambia in a doubleheader at Yamoussoukro on Friday, while Cameroon plays Senegal in the second series of group matches.
Photo by Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
