By Muluh Alfred

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have settled for a 1-1 draw against 10-man Guinea as opposed to Senegal’s 3-0 bashing of Gambia in their first AFCON 2023 outings.

The National Elephants of Guinea capitalized on a poor clearance from Christopher Wooh and bad defending from Olivier Kemen to slot the ball past Fabrice Ondoa in the 10th minute.

The tide however turned in Cameroon’s favor when Guinea’s Captain François Kamano was sent off for a foul on Frank Magri, giving the lions a numerical advantage.

This advantage eventually led to an equalizer, scored in the 51st minute by Magri from a well-placed Nkoudou cross, ultimately securing the 1-1 draw at full-time.

Senegal on their part began their campaign on a high note, defeating 10-man Gambia 3-0 in their Group C opener at Stade Charles Konan Banny in Yamoussoukro.

The Teranga Lions started the game strong, mounting pressure on Gambia from the get-go and got a well-deserved lead just four minutes into the match.

After a defensive error
from Gambia, Sadio Mane found an unmarked Pape Gueye 12 yards out who then scored an exquisite goal In the 4th minute.

Senegal doubled their lead through a simple yet effective move where Ismaila Sarr passed it through to Lamine Camara, who then scored from within the box.

Camara, who had already scored earlier in the match, netted his second goal in the 86th minute and sealed any hopes of a Gambia comeback.

With a win for Sénégal, The Terenga lions lead Group C with 3 points while Cameroon follow with a point.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Tom Saintfiet Head Coach of The Gambian national team, has said his side will seek to improve on their game, when they meet Guinea on Friday, in the second round of matches of Group C in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

The Scorpions of Gambians were walloped by Senegal in their opening match on Monday, and the Coach has admitted his team was poor in the match.

Speaking after the match, the coach apologized for the result and gave credit to the defending champions for a clinical display.

‘We are sorry for this result. We wanted our performance to be better than this. We tried everything we could to come back with the result.

‘After conceding early, Senegal was more effective and better organised, which was decisive in the match,’ said a dejected Saintfiet.

‘We did not create many chances in the match. The big problem in the first half is that we were unable to find our footing. We lost 3-0 and this is considered a major defeat, and losing a man also made things worse for us,’ he added.

Comme
nting on the team’s chances for the rest of the competition, the coach said: ‘We would prepare well and we would be ready for the Guinea match. I know that we would be ready. Things have become difficult for us now, especially after losing by three. We need 4 points to qualify, so there is still hope,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency