(Photo: Africa Top Sports)
By Landing Ceesay
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, the host nation of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2021), and the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde have collected maximum points in their first matches.
The Indomitable Lions came from a goal down against the stallions of Burkina Faso to win 2-1 in Yaounde on Sunday.
Gustavo Sangare opened the scoring for the stallions of Burkina Faso in the 24th minute. Before the skipper of the indomitable lions of Cameroon Vicent Aboubakar levelled the score line from the penalty spot; after Zambo Anguissa was brought down by Bertrand Traore in the 40th minute.
The indomitable Lions won another penalty when left-back Nouhou Tolo was brought down in the box by Burkina Faso defender Issoufou Dayo in the 43rd minute for the penalty, which the skipper Vicent Aboubakar converted into another goal and put Cameron 2-1 up to secure all 3 points for the host nation.
Meanwhile, in the late kick-off game between the Walias Ibex of Ethiopia and the blue sharks of Cape Verde ended 1-0 in favour of the Blue Sharks; thanks to Julio Tavares lone goal in the 45th minute.
The Walias ibex of Ethiopia defender Yared Baye was sent off in the 12th minute following a dangerous tackle on Rodriguez the Cape Verde wing wizard.
In today’s AFCON games, the Teranga Lions of Senegal will play against the Warriors of Zimbabwe at 13:00 GMT; while the second match of the day will see the Djurtus of Guinea Bissau lock horns with the Flames of Malawi at 16:00 GMT.
The biggest game of the will be the Atlas Lions of Morocco versus the Black Stars of Ghana at 16:00 GMT. The last game of the will see the Coelacanths of Comoros play against the Panthers of Gabon who will be without their Captain and star striker Pierre Aymeric Aubameyang who tested positive for Covid-19.
The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2021) has been delayed to this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.