Both the Ivory Coast and Cameroon came into their Group D openers last night as big favourites, and both finished it feeling relieved not to lose.
A late equalizer from Seydou Doumbia in the 72nd minute cancelled out the goal by Guinea’s Yattara in the 36th minute.
A talking point in this game is undoubtedly Gervinho’s sending off with a straight red card for a scuffle with Baissama Sankoh in the 57th minute. His lack of discipline put immense pressure on Yaya Toure and co.
Guinea almost punished the elephants when Ibrahima Traore struck the crossbar in the 61st minute.
Both teams lacked the creativity upfront to secure all three points.
In the nights other game, Cameroon, which conceded only one goal in qualifying was far from clinical last night. It took Ambroise Oyongo latching onto to a long pass from Raoul Loe in the 84th to beat Mali goalkeeper Soumaila Diakite in a fast-paced game.
Prior to this goal, Sambou Yatabare had given Mali a surprising lead in the 71st, controlling the ball with his chest and scoring from a tight angle after a free kick on the other side of the field. The game ended 1-1.
The draws of both games last night leave all four teams in Group D with one point but with still a lot to prove.
After the first round of matches only Algeria, Senegal and Gabon managed to score more than one goal to win their matches. The rest of the teams either recorded low scoring draws or marginally lost.
Have the defenders in Africa become tougher or are African strikers simply not clinical enough?
Last night’s games certainly revealed the need for African striker’s to be sharper in a tournament yet to really light up.