Senegal start strongly
AFCON: BRAVE 10-MAN GUINEA HOLD CAMEROON IN ANOTHER SURPRISE
Lamine Camara scored twice as Senegal kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations title defence with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia in Yamoussoukro yesterday.
Senegal moved top of the early Group C table ahead of Cameroon’s after their 1-1 draw with Guinea.
Aliou Cisse’s showed enough quality in the Ivorian heat to suggest they could become the first team to win back-to-back AFCON titles since Egypt reeled off three in a row in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
Senegal’s XI featured just five of the starting team which beat Egypt on penalties in the final two years ago and it was youngster Camara who stole the show.
Gambia already face an uphill task to reach the knockout stage two years after a shock run to the quarter-finals on debut.
Guinea joined a growing list of surprise sides at Afcon with the draw against five-time champions Cameroon despite playing the second half with 10 men.
Mohamed Bayo gave Guinea the lead before captain Francois Kamano was sent off just before half-time. Frank Magri equalised early in the second half, but a winning goal eluded Cameroon.
The brave Guinean showing on day three followed a string of unexpected results on Sunday with Cape Verde defeating Ghana, Mozambique holding Egypt and Equatorial Guinea drawing with Nigeria.
Cameroon did not include Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana in the matchday 23 after he arrived in the Ivorian capital just a few hours before the kick-off.
Onana delayed his arrival so that he could play for United in a 2-2 Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Coach Rigobert Song chose Fabrice Ondoa as his starting keeper with two other shot-stoppers, Devis Epassy and Simon Ngapandouetnbu, on the bench.
Cameroon, seeking a sixth title and second in four editions, were also missing star forward and leading 2022 Cup of Nations scorer Vincent Aboubakar, who was ruled out by a thigh injury.
Guinea suffered a huge pre-match blow when Serhou Guirassy, scorer of 17 goals for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga this season, was ruled out by a knee injury.
There were water breaks in both halves to assist the players, who had to contend with 360C heat when the match kicked off in the central city.