The Africa Cup Of Nations (CAF) which was founded in 1957 is the main international men’s association football competition in Africa, the competition takes place after every 2 years and features 24 National teams in Africa.
The Continental Competition got delayed due to the rise of COVID-19 cases officially kicked off tonight, with an opening fixture between the hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso.
With the hosts eyeing a sixth AFCON title meanwhile the 2013 runner ups Burkina Faso were eyeing their first title. The opening fixture had an opening ceremony before kick-off which featured dancing, singing and the display of the AFCON trophy, the President of Cameroon Paul Biya was amongst 45 000 fans who made their way to the Olembe Stadium to witness the opening fixture.
Burkina Faso were without their head coach Kamou Malo and six more players who tested positive for COVID-19 during match-build-up.
In the first 45 minutes Burkina Faso took a shocking lead on the 24th minute through Gustavo Sangare who found the back of the net with his left foot, following the opening goal the visitors became more like a threat as they attacked the hosts on counter attack, as the match went on Burkina Faso made clumsy mistakes and gave away a penalty on the 38th minute and was converted by Aboubakar on the 40th minute levelling matters between the two Nations.
Burkina Faso made another mistake when Dayo tackled Nouhou in the 18-yard area, the tackle resulted into a penalty which was converted by Aboubakar on the 45+3 minute of added time, scoring his 27th goal for his country. Cameroon went into the half-time leading the visitors by 2 goals to 1.
When the 2nd half kicked off Burkina Faso tried to get back into the game but they couldn’t as Cameroon piled up some pressure on them. Cameroon’s hero Aboubakar scored his 28th goal on the 60th minute and was later ruled out by VAR, Burkina Faso fired shots from angles but luck wasn’t on their side. The match ended into a victory for the hosts.
