STORIES By Monica Iheakam, with Agency Report
Africa Cup of Nations debutants Guinea Bissau’s centre back Juary Suarez, grabbed a last-gasp equalizer as they held hosts Gabon to a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the tournament on Saturday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked to have delivered a winning start for a nervy-looking home team with the opener after 53 minutes but Gabon got caught on the stroke of full time from a set piece as Juary scored with a flying header.
Guinea Bissau were shock qualifiers and had been given little chance at the finals but they proved gutsy contenders despite looking tired in the closing stages as they kept pushing forward against their much vaunted opponents.
They had the better of the early exchanges, maintaining possession and looking more cohesive against a host team that started the match relying on ineffective long balls.
The second half was much like the first in that both sides looked tentative to start but the two eventually settled down and began exchanging attacks.
The high tempo didn’t last though as the teams went back into their shells and much of the period was played at a rather pedestrian pace.
But it took only ten minutes before Borrusia Dortmund forward, Pierre Aubamenyang out of defensive lapse belted a right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner sloted the ball into the back of the net in 50th minute.
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Africa Cup of Nations debutants Guinea Bissau’s centre back Juary Suarez, grabbed a last-gasp equalizer as they held hosts Gabon to a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the tournament on Saturday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked to have delivered a winning start for a nervy-looking home team with the opener after 53 minutes but Gabon got caught on the stroke of full time from a set piece as Juary scored with a flying header.
Guinea Bissau were shock qualifiers and had been given little chance at the finals but they proved gutsy contenders despite looking tired in the closing stages as they kept pushing forward against their much vaunted opponents.
They had the better of the early exchanges, maintaining possession and looking more cohesive against a host team that started the match relying on ineffective long balls.
The second half was much like the first in that both sides looked tentative to start but the two eventually settled down and began exchanging attacks. The high tempo didn’t last though as the teams went back into their shells and much of the period was played at a rather pedestrian pace. But it took only ten minutes before Borrusia Dortmund forward,Pierre Aubamenyang out of defensive lapse belted a right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner sloted the ball into the back of the net in 50th minute.