Algeria threw all its weight to defeat Angola but all its attempts failed (French)

When Egypt struggles to draw hard-earned with Mozambique, Algeria stumbles against Angola, Cape Verde devours Ghana, Cameroon fails to defeat 10 Guinean players, Nigeria fails against Equatorial Guinea, and all this happens in just 3 days, it means that we are facing an exceptional edition of the African Cup of Nations.

The tournament, which kicked off last Saturday with an expected victory for hosts Ivory Coast over Guinea-Bissau, which is expected and logical, began to offer us surprises and unexpected results, and confirms that "Mama Africa" always keeps its promises from the second day of the competition.

Osmin roars, Nigeria stumbles

The start was with the first match on Sunday, when Equatorial Guinea forced a 1-1 draw against the star-studded Nigerian Eagles, led by Serie A top scorer and best player in the competition last season, Victor Osmin.

⚽️ The response comes quickly from Nigeria#AfricaCup of Nations#AFCON2023 | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/SkRkrQf3ZE

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Although the Napoli striker scored the equalizer, but his frivolity was the title of the match, as he wasted many easy and available opportunities to score strangely, but the "National Thunder" team is credited with its defensive solidity and maintaining its focus and not being afraid of one of the top black continent and winner of the title 3 previous times, and snatched a draw with the taste of victory, and a fingerprint on the first surprises of the tournament.

Salah Al-Munqidh

Another great who struggled to snatch a point from a match that was easy for him on paper was the Egyptian team (the seven-time African champions), at the "Félix Offhouette-Boigny" stadium in Abidjan, and with a penalty in stoppage time, Mohamed Salah saved the "Pharaohs" from a shocking and unexpected loss in Group B.

Mohamed Salah equals the cuff from the penalty mark #AfricanCup#AFCON2023 | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/ixTblENHvd

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Mozambique, nicknamed the "Mamba Vipers", overturned an early goal deficit in the first half to excel by two goals within 3 minutes at the beginning of the second half. Egyptian Mustafa Mohamed, who scored the first goal, justified this stumble by saying that "we suffered from high temperature and high humidity, which contributed to the decline in the players' concentration, especially in the second half." Egypt's Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria blamed the "loss of concentration". "We have to be focused. We lost concentration for a few minutes and conceded two goals".

Even captain and star Mohamed Salah did not appear much during the match, but he avoided losing his country in the last moments (90+7). Mozambique's players won the respect and applause of the local crowd, who chanted their country's name long minutes before and after the end of the match. Mozambique coach Chiquinho Conde said: "We are sad about this result I think we deserved to win, not draw," and continued with much optimism: "We can trust everything in this tournament."

The Mozambique coach's confidence extended to all the modest or obscure teams in Africa, reaching Cape Verde, who had a perfect game against Ghana's experienced team in the continental tournament.

Cape Verde innovates

The "Blue Sharks" devoured the "Black Stars" and defeated them 2-1, in a match that witnessed a great rivalry between the two teams from the first minute, despite the vast technical and historical difference between them.

Cape Verde score goal in the final seconds #AfricaCup of Nations #AFCON2023 | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/pxLWbU21jZ

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Cape Verde is playing the tournament for the fourth time after (2013-2015-2021), while Ghana has won the tournament four times, most recently in 4. Ghana coach Chris Hughton of Ireland sees the defeat as "very disappointing". "I know and the players know how the fans see this match, the tournament and the expectations," he told the news conference. "We have no choice but to get a good result against Egypt" next Thursday.

Cameroon Down

On the third day of the tournament, Senegal, champions of the competition in the last edition, survived the surprises with a big victory over Gambia with a clean treble, starting their campaign by defending their title in a perfect way in Group C.

In the same group, another giant fell into the trap of a draw, Cameroon, in front of 10 players from Guinea, who also missed Stuttgart striker Serho Gerase, the second top scorer in the Bundesliga with 17 goals.

Mohamed Bayou opens the scoring for Guinea against Cameroon#SenegalGambia #كأس_أمم_أفريقيا #AFCON2023 | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/x4BisqSaQH

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Guinea took the initiative to score through Le Havre's French striker Mohamed Bayeux (10), but received a painful blow by expelling its captain, Saudi Abha striker Francois Camano (45 + 7), so Cameroon took advantage of the numerical shortage, and equalized early in the second half through French Toulouse striker Franck Magri (51). Cameroon pressed hard for the win but it was clear they lacked a translator of chances in the absence of captain Turkish striker Besiktas Vincent Abubakar and veteran Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting ruled out for technical reasons.

Guinea's players massed around their area and launched dangerous counter-attacks, while Guinean goalkeeper Ibrahim Kony and his defensive line shone in their defense, in the face of a torrent of Cameroonian attacks that lacked precision.

Warriors Fail

The third day of the group stage refused to close the curtain except with a resounding surprise, represented by a disappointing and frustrating draw for 2019 champions Algeria against Angola 1-1 in Group D.

At the El Salam Stadium in Bouaké, Algeria started their match with Angola in the best possible way, opening the scoring through Qatar's Al Sadd striker Baghdad Bounedjah in the 18th minute, but missed many chances and paid dearly by conceding an equaliser from the penalty spot.

Algeria open campaign with Angola draw

⏯️ Watch Algeria vs Angola 👇 #كأس_أمم_إفريقيا #AlgeriaAngola#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/6wwJtVxqES

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The Desert Foxes were hoping to regain the winning tone they had missed since beating Senegal with a clean goal in the final of the 2019 edition in Cairo, as they came out empty-handed from the first round of the 2022 edition in Cameroon when they were stripped of the title. Algeria seemed to be on its way to a comfortable victory over Angola after its players imposed their technical control of the match from the first minute, and created a lot of chances in the match and the "Desert Warriors" tried with all their weight and the skills of their stars to search for victory, but they collided with goalkeeper Edelson da Cruz, and the Angolan players clustered in front of their goal, and their counterattacks posed some danger.

The second round, scheduled for next Saturday, will witness the group summit match between Algeria and Burkina Faso, with Angola playing - as well - with Mauritania.

Source: Agencies