January 09, (THEWILL) – Cameroon came from behind to beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opening match of the twice-postponed TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Vincent Aboubakar keeping his cool to score two penalties.
The continental football showpiece finally got underway on Sunday at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, after being moved twice due to climate concerns and COVID-19 respectively.
Gustavo Sangare’s back-post volley after 24 minutes gave Burkina Faso the lead in the first game of Group A, which also featured Ethiopia and Cape Verde.
In the build-up to the opening goal, Bertrand Traore had a header cleared off the line, but he also gave away a penalty for a trip on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa at the opposite end.
Following a lengthy VAR review, Aboubakar converted from the spot, and the Cameroon captain was on target again eight minutes later as Issoufou Dayo slid in on Nouhou Tolo to concede another penalty.
In the second half, VAR intervened to prevent an offside Aboubakar from putting in a third goal, but Cameroon’s two goals were enough to get them off to a winning start.
The Man of the Match was definitely Cameroon’s Moumi Ngamaleu, who was a threat for his country throughout the opening game. He played high up on the right side for the team and executed his role to perfection.
Burkina Faso were stretched from the start, and they became obviously exhausted later in the game, which was largely due to Ngamaleu’s constant presence on the left-shoulder, which he ceaselessly probed looking for weaknesses. The Young Boys’ player was the deciding factor in the game’s outcome.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
