All quiet on the Gabonese front
Jonty Mark
The mood was sombre on the streets of Libreville as Gabon fans trudged home from the Stade de L’Amite on Saturday evening.
One old lady strutted her stuff in a local café, casting a defiant dance against the depression of a 1-1 draw against 2017 Africa Cup of Nations minnows Guinea-Bissau. But mostly there was little cause for celebration.
The atmosphere was different a few hours earlier, when star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had found space in the penalty area to fire the hosts into a 53rd minute lead. A previously pensive, tense occasion erupted in joy – it seemed that despite a patchy display, Jose Antonio Camacho’s side were going to get their win.
But in stoppage time, a period of Guinea-Bissau pressure ended with Juary Soares heading in, to make this a memorable occasion for a side making its tournament debut.
“We had the opportunity to win the match but we lost the ball so many times with bad control and that is why we conceded,” said Camacho afterwards.
“Our chances are still the same even though we did not win.”
Camacho’s counterpart Baciro Cande was understandably the happier of the two men. “We have always said we don’t have top class players like other teams, like Gabon, but we have a very strong collective … that is our strength, we will try game by game, doing our best and let’s see what happens,” said Cande.
A consolation for Gabon is that Group A was effectively sent back to the drawing board after Cameroon drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso in the later game on Saturday.
The Indomitable Lions were brilliant for around an hour, and took the lead through a Benjamin Moukandjo free-kick. However a 75th-minute header from Issoufou Dayo levelled matters.
Burkina Faso coach Paulo Duarte admitted he was shocked by the way Cameroon played.