Another 1-1 draw in this group leaves the hosts in a dicey position: they’ll probably need to beat Cameroon in their last match, while Burkina face Guinea Bissau. While it’s true that Gabon might have won here if not for the excellence of the opposing goalkeeper, 20-year-old Hervé Koffi, they generally lacked attacking fluency and Burkina were the better side for some chunks of the game. Still, the first of the second round of matches suggests this tournament is gathering momentum. And on that note, bye.
90+3 min: One last chance for Gabon? A freekick midway inside the Burkina half gives Bouanga an opportunity to send one into what is known in these parts as ‘the mixer’. But it’s a bad delivery.
90 min: There will be at least four more minutes. That announcement is greeted by boos from the locals, who are wondering how there is not more time to be added on after so many injuries and substitutions.
88 min: Bounaga does superbly on the right to create space for a cross despite being pestered by the excellent Coulibaly. The delivery from right beside the corner flag is superb. Kevyn gets a firm header to it eight yards from goal ... but sends it inches past the far post! So close to a winner for the hosts!
85 min: Ndong gives away possession cheaply in midfield. Nakooulma sweeps a fine pass wide to Traoré, who clips a pass towards Diawara near the penalty spot. Appindagoyé shoulders him to the ground. The forward shouts for a penalty but the referee wisely ignores him.
81 min: Gabon hoiks a cross towards the far post. Aubameyang heads back across goal and Bouanga opens fire from seven yards. But Koffi makes a brilliant save with his left foot, showing superb reflexes and agility to kick out and send the ball over the bar! The 20-year-old gave away the penalty after underestimating the pace of Aubameyang (and he’s not the first to do that) but other than that he has been excellent.
80 min: Coulibaly becomes the latest player to be carried off on a stretcher, though the pitch can’t be blamed this time: his problem came from a clash of heads as he jumped to nod the ball clear. Burkina have made all their substitutes so they’ll be hoping their man can rejoin the action quickly...
78 min: Bertrand Traoré gives the ball away 30 yards from his own goal - and to Aubameyang, of all people. The striker attempts to mete out maximum punishment but his shot flies way over.
64 min: Palun ventures forward in an effort to get Gabon back on the front foot. But his bad pass gives Burkina an opportunity to put the pressure back on, and Alain Traoré duly sweeps the ball into the place where Palun would normally have been. Nakoulma collects it and bounds towards the box, but Ecuélé Manga gets back and does well to stick the ball out for a corner.
60 min: A freekick by Diawara deflects off the wall. Dayo tries to flick a header into the net from six yards but fails to connect, allowing Ovono to push the delivery away awkwardly.
58 min: Lovely dart and dribble by Bertrand Traoré! It took him between two defenders at the edge of the area and then he tried to curl a low shot towards the far corner. It took a deflection off the trailing leg of a defender before Ovono palmed it away.
57 min: There were suggestions at half-time that Burkina might downgrade their ambition and settle for a draw here in the expectation of beating Guinea Bissau in their last group match. But they have sensibly eschewed that option and are going for the win here: and they’re been on top for most of the second half.
52 min: Bouanga is shunted to the ground by Jonathan Zongo as Gabon try to complete another counter-attack. It’s a freekick to the hosts but it won’t be taken until Burkina make another substitution, Zongo having injured himself in that challenge. It’s Bertrand Traoré time.
50 min: The crowd squeal with excitement as a Burkina attack breaks down and the ball squirts out to Aubameyang, who sets off on a gallop towards the other end. But the Dortmund striker disappoints his adoring fans by mislaying an attempted pass to Evouna.
47 min: Diawara hassles Ze Ondo into an error. The defender compounds it by pulling the attacker back, giving Burkina a freekick in a dangerous crossing position.
That was highly enjoyable and the second half should be likewise: both these teams are intent on victory and playing at a cracking tempo and total commitment. A bit of pushing and shoving as they go off the pitch for a break augurs well for the next period. In the mean time, why not have a gander at some of the best goals scored in the last few days.
42 min: Corner to Gabon, whose confidence has been restored by the goal. Poko clips one over to the penalty spot, where Ecuélé Manga meets it with his full forehead but fails to guide his shot on target.
40 min: Are we going to have a third substitution in the first half? Poko is down clutching his shoulder after landing heavily following a tackle. This pitch must is evidently very hard, a fact also shown by the height to which the ball bounces.
Koffi hared off his line to intercept a long through-ball - but Aubameyang was too fast for him and nicked the ball past him before being felled. The keeper is booked. Can he redeem himself by saving the spotkick?
32 min: A break in play as Obiang receives treatment for a knock. Happily, today’s Fiver has just landed - and it was written by Rob Smyth so has to be good.
29 min: Koffi spills a long-range shot by Bouanga. That’s almost inevitable on this bobbly pitch so regular shooting - and following up - are well in order.
27 min: Burkina are doing a job on Gabon now alright. They’re showing their power and their experience to tighten their grip on this game. Gabon are looking frazzled and cannot get the ball to Aubemeyang, who has pulled wide to the right in the hope of making himself more available.
25 min: The hosts are under enormous pressure now and it looks like they’ll need time to come to terms with it - but Burkina don’t intend to give them that: they’re swarming all over them with renewed vigour now, forcing mistakes and fraying nerves even further.
The substitute scores with a straightforward counter-attack! A punt clear from the Burkina box was intended solely to relieve pressure but it turned into a perfect through-ball when Obiang got flustered under pressure from Nakoulma and made a mess of a header. Nakoulma raced through on goal and, as two defenders converged on him, shunted it past Ovono and into the net!
20 min: Aubameyang sets off in pursuit of a clever pass into the right channel. But the ball travels fast and untrue on this pitch and runs out of play before even Aubameyang can retrieve it.
17 min: First-class look of disgust on the face of Evouna after Palun fails to collect his pass near half-way. Palun’s look, meanwhile, seems intended to convey the point that he might have collected the pass if it had not been so far away from him.
14 min: Diawara literally has a pain in his ass. After leaping high to challenge for a header he fell derrière-first on the hard ground and winced accordingly. Fortunately being doused with water and rubbed by a physio seems to have sorted him out, so Burkina do not need to make a second substitution just yet.
12 min: It’s been all Gabon so far. They’re playing with admirable speed and purpose, and regularly stretching the Burkinabe defence. Having said that, Abdou Traoré has just given them a reminder about the dangers of easing off, as he pounced on a loose ball and fired off a shot that nearly befuddled the keeper, Ovono needing two attempts to hold it. Sending in shots that bounce in front of the keeper are a smart ploy in this pitch, like the way cricket spinners thrive on scruffy wickets.
7 min: Dayo fails to clear a cross from the left properly and it falls to Bouanga, who smashes it first-time on the half-volley from 12 yards. Koffi reacts brilliantly to tip it on to the crossbar! Aubameyang tries to nod the rebound into the net but can’t get enough power on his header, so Koffi gets up to gather with ease. So close for Gabon, who’ve made a roaring start!
6 min: Fine goalkeeping by Koffi, the 20-year-old in nets for Burkina! Hu hurtled off his line to make a perfectly timed dive at the feet of Bouanga after a sharp move by Gabon.
5 min: The bobbly pitch betrays Obiang as Gabon tried to launch a counter-attack. As the left-back tried to collect a pass on the run, the ball skipped over his foot and into touch.
3 min: Aubameyang essays on those knuckleball freekick from 30 yards. The ball wobbles about four yards over the bar, but the tribute to Juninho is well noted.
2 min: Evouna gives an early sample of his dribbling prowess, skittering down the right and into the Burkinabe box. He then pokes a pass though to Poko, who’s closed down before he can get off a clean shot from eight yards. But that was encouraging for Gabon nonetheless.
1 min: Burkina kick off and immediately try to find Pitropia, who immediately loses possession under pressure from Poko, the man brought in to replace Lemina, who has been dropped as Gabon seek greater solidity in midfield.
The Burkinabe players belt out their national anthem and well they might: it was written by Thomas Sankara, no less. The Gabonese one is recited more nervously, by the players at least; the crowd in the stadium in Libreville, which looks about half-full, give it more gusto.
The teams present themselves for the pre-match formalities. Burkina Faso are resplendent in white, while Gabon are wearing yellows jerseys, blue shorts and green socks, which is essentially their national flag in football kit format.
Hello. Let’s not perfume a dungheap: most of the matches in the first round of this tournament were total stinkers. Of the most fancied countries only Senegal and, at a push, DR Congo have vindicated their status so far, while the other most notable performers have been less highly billed sides, with Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau and Togo doing well to justify their presence. Everyone else has been varying degrees of plod.
The good thing is that means that the second round of matches should be contested by teams doing their utmost to improve, starting with Gabon and Burkina Faso. There is, of course, the danger that the tightness of Group A (both of the opening matches ended 1-1) could lead to caution but let’s hope that both sides choose audacity and, more to the point, show that they have the talent to match their ambitions. Go Panthers! Go Stallions! Pretty please!
The onus is on Gabon, in particular. The hosts first performance was error-strewn. Perhaps nerves were a factor, though the first mistake was committed by the manager, Jose Antonio Camacho, who deployed an unbalanced side, as Merlin Tandjigora turned out to be not quite magical enough to secure midfield on his lonesome. Gabon also suffered from a grievous lack of creativity, with no sign of Malick Evouna’s dribbling skills or Mario Lemina’s passing ability. Poor old Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang was more akin to a blowfly than a Panther, left to feed off rotten remains. Gabon need to provide their brilliant striker with far better service if they are to progress.
The players from the Country of Honourable People, meanwhile, looked defensively vulnerable and on course for a walloping in their opening match but fought back well in the second half to draw with Cameroon. Banou Diawara, the super sub who triggered those super scenes in the final game of the qualifying campaign by hitting a stoppage time winner against Botswana, made another big impact from the bench in the match against Cameroon, though the equaliser was scored by Issoufou Dayo. Paulo Durate, Burkina’s Portuguese manager, admitted that he got his initial tactics wrong against Cameroon – actually, he said that his players, though very experienced, seemed confused by his plan, which is the same thing as admitting he messed up – so it’ll be interesting to see whether they make a better start today. Duarte should know enough about Gabon and his own players to at least devise a clear plot, as he managed the Panthers, unsuccessfully, before returning for a second spell in charge of Burkina.
In short, the stakes are high for this one and there’s no telling which way it’ll go. But 2-1 to Gabon in a drama-filled contest seems the most likely denouement. Will you stay tuned now?
