Gabon became the latest underdogs at the Africa Cup of Nations to punch above their weight when they claimed the scalp of continental giants Cameroon with a 1-0 win on Wednesday.
Later in Lubango, 2004 champions Tunisia were unable to capitalize on Cameroon’s slip-up when they escaped with a 1-1 draw against Zambia to leave Group D wide open.
Angola 2010 is fast earning a reputation as a tournament of upsets, with Angola squandering a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 draw against Mali, Algeria whipped 3-0 by Malawi, and Ivory Coast held by Burkina Faso.
Egypt, the two-time champions, are the only side to do themselves justice in the opening week with their 3-1 defeat of Nigeria on Tuesday.
On paper, Cameroon, officially rated the best side in Africa, should have taken Gabon to the cleaners, but Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o and his teammates were unable to respond to Gabon’s Hull City striker Daniel Cousin who produced the only goal of the game to go top of Group D.
Veteran Cameroon central defender Rigobert Song became the first man to play in eight Nations Cup tournaments, but he would have surely traded his place in history for a different result.
“We weren’t great,” Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen said. “But above all we can’t become destabilized, the last two first round games can allow us to qualify.”
Eto’o noted a striking parallel to their experience in Ghana in 2008: “Two years ago we were in the same situation [having lost their opener and then facing Zambia, whom they meet on Sunday, in their second].”
The former three-time African Footballer of the Year added: “Losing today is not a big problem but we have to win our next game against Zambia on Sunday. “We controlled the match but could not find the net.”
“We are very pleased we got a win in the first game. Our system worked well and technically we were very good,” Gabon coach and former France star Alain Giresse said.
Tunisia must have fancied their chances of seizing the initiative against Zambia, but they found themselves trailing after 19 minutes when James Chamanga, who plays his club soccer in China, charged down the center and found Jacob Mulenga on his right to score.
Tunisia avoided embarrassment when five minutes before the break teenage striker Youssef Msakni tore the Zambian defense apart down the left, cutting the ball back to Zouhaier Dhaouadhi, who slammed it into the roof of the net.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
‘BOWLINE’ AND ‘ARCTOS’: Roy Quaden was hit on the head by a boom, while Nick Smith was struck by the main sheet and thrown across the boat amid rough seas Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, officials said yesterday, as a string of yachts retired in powerful winds and high seas. One of the crew members, 55-year-old Roy Quaden on Flying Fish Arctos, was hit on the head by a boom as the fleet raced down the New South Wales coast, race organizers said. The other man, 65-year-old Nick Smith, was struck by the main sheet aboard Bowline and thrown across the boat, said David Jacobs, vice commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. “Unfortunately, he hit his head on the winch, and
Liverpool on Thursday powered seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as the title favorites survived a scare in their 3-1 win against Leicester City, while Bruno Fernandes was sent off in Manchester United’s dismal 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Erling Haaland missed a penalty as crisis-torn Manchester City failed to end their dismal run with a 1-1 draw against Everton, but it was United’s travails and Liverpool’s remarkable run that took center-stage. Arne Slot’s side were shocked by Jordan Ayew’s early strike at Anfield, but the leaders recovered their composure to equalize just before the interval through Cody
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
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