Aubameyang vows to do better and lead Gabon to victory

Libre ville (Gabon): Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and hosts Gabon vowed to put a poor start to their African Nations Cup behind them and beat Burkina Faso today in the second round of Group A matches.

A Panthers team captained by the Borussia Dortmund star striker conceded a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 with minnows Guinea-Bissau in the tournament opener on Saturday.

Former African Footballer of the Year Aubameyang put the home team ahead with a tap-in only for Juary Soares to nod the leveller off a free-kick.

With four-time champions Cameroon held 1-1 by Burkina Faso, every team have one point and identical goal records going into the second round of group games.

Gabon and Burkina Faso clash in the 40,000-seat Stade de l’Amitie in Libreville followed by Cameroon against Guinea-Bissau.

Aubameyang knows he and his team-mates let supporters of the central African team down and has promised a better performance against opponents they beat 2-0 at the same stage two years ago.

“We have learnt from our mistakes,” said the 27-year-old born in France to a Gabonese father and a Spanish mother, making him eligible to represent three nations.

He opted for Gabon, a country once captained by his father who have never gone further than the quarter-finals at the Nations Cup.

“I remain positive that we can reach our first goal, which is qualifying for the knockout phase,” said the leading Bundesliga scorer this season with 16 goals.

“Mistakes were made against Guinea-Bissau, like conceding a goal in the final minute. We must now rectify those errors and defeat Burkina Faso.”

The Burkinabe, whose best showing was finishing runners-up to 2013 champions Nigeria, fell behind to Cameroon and survived an onslaught before levelling.

Belgium-born Cameroon coach Hugo Broos is nervous about facing shock qualifiers Guinea-Bissau.

“Playing against less-well-known teams can be tricky,” he warned. “And we do not want to go into our final group game against Gabon needing a win to survive.

“We want to reach the quarter-finals and then see where we go from there,” said the successor to underachieving German Volker Finke as coach of the Indomitable Lions.

Guinea-Bissau sensationally won a qualifying group including former champions Congo Brazzaville and Zambia and continued the fairytale run by holding Gabon.

“We now have the motivation to go far,” said Baciro Cande, who took charge of the Wild Dogs when Portuguese Paulo Torres was barred for four matches during the qualifiers.

“My team may not have any bigname footballers, but we have unity and determination, and that counts for so much.” — AFP