The 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations which could not be hosted in 2021 due to the havoc wrecked by Covid-19, kicked on on the 9th of January at the Olembe stadium in Cameroon right after the tournament’s opening ceremony. The hosts, Cameroon saw off underdogs, Burkina Faso in a game that could have gone differently for them. The Burkinabe took the lead in the 24th minute through Gustavo Sangare after some fantastic play by Aston Villa playmaker, Bertrand Traore. Despite having a lot of possession, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were the least dangerous team in front of goal until the 40th minute when a controversial penalty was awarded the hosts by Algerian referee; Mustapha Ghorbal. 38 year old Cameroon international; Vincent Abubakar calmly converted the penalty but the story did not end there as the indomitable lions were awarded a second penalty some few minutes later. Despite appeals by the Burkinabe internationals for the video assistant referee (VAR) to be consulted, the referee seemed unperturbed and stuck with his initial call without going into the VAR booth.
The second half despite Cameroons introduction of the likes of Bayern Munich forward; Choupo-Moting, was without much incident. For some social media users, certain calls made by the referee in the opening match could go a long way to cast doubts over the credibility of the entire competition and validate perceptions that were earlier expressed by certain figures like Jurgen Klopp about how small a tournament the African cup of Nations is. Others however are of the view that calls by the referee may not be the most accurate but are definitely not as controversial as social media is making it look.
During their respective post match interviews however, the Burkinabe expressed disappointment in the referees decision to award the hosts two penalties but also stated clearly that they were not going to make excuses. “The referee was very generous, gifting two penalties but of course we would not make excuses. We will learn from our mistakes and come back stronger.” Bertrand Traore stated in his post match interview rather sarcastically. Traore who was taken off in the 86th minute by coach Kamou Malo, was tipped to be the one going home with the man of the match award but lost the silverware to the two goal hero; Vincent Abubacar of Cameroon.
What are your expectations of the African Cup of nations? Will the competition live up to it’s hype or will it be a “small” tournament as tagged by certain figures like Liverpool manager; Jurgen Klopp? Share your thoughts and insight with us in the comments section below.
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