Cameroon and Cape Verde win as VAR makes a prominent AFCON debut

Cameroon and Cape Verde came out victorious on the opening day of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations as VAR made its debut at the tournament.

An elegant opening ceremony proceeded the of the 33rd edition of the competition, showcasing all that is grand about Africa and Cameroon in particular.

The people of Cameroon can be proud of the spectacle they displayed during the opening ceremony, from Yaoundé to Douala, Cameroon showed that all the speculation would not stop them from having their day in the sun.

Toni Conceição’s Indomitable Lions did not disappoint on the pitch either, recording a 2-1 win in the opening match against Burkina Faso. The performance of the host nation is often critical to the success of tournaments like AFCON as local interest is dependent on their team’s results.

The game got off to a bullish start with a crunching tackle from Steeve Yago, which may well have deserved the fastest red card in the tournament’s history with less than a minute played. However, Algerian referee Mustapha Ghorbal opted to brandish a yellow card and ensured the event as a whole remained even.

The Burkinabes constructed the first promising attack of the match which would eventually lead to the deadlock being broken. Issoufou Dayo’s initial header was cleared off the line prior to Gustavo Sangare’s attempted cross then hitting the woodwork.

Sangare would make no mistake the second time around as he fired in a left-footed volley off a delicious cross from captain, Bertrand Traore. Twenty-four minutes in, we had lift-off at the AFCON but not from the hosts, who looked rattled but dusted themselves down seeking an equalizer.

In typical Burkinabe style, recklessness defending was their undoing as Traore lunged on Zambo Anguissa in the box, giving away a penalty following consultation with the Video Assistant Referee.

For the first time in AFCON history, VAR took centre stage at Africa’s premier football showpiece.

Vincent Aboubakar converted the resultant spot-kick to level the scores and subsequently doubled his tally in first-half stoppage time, again from the spot, after another rash tackle in the box set the Indomitable Lions on their way to victory.

Cameroon could have added to their tally in the second half but missed an abundance of chances, especially on the break as they set up to consolidate their first-half lead.

In the night’s other group A match, Cape Verde ran out 1-0 winners over Ethiopia.

The Ethiopians were reduced to 10 men early in the first half following another VAR-related incident as the referee, after consultation with the VAR, decided to change the previously issued yellow card to Yared Baye into a red one.

There was no way back into the game for the Ethiopians from that point onwards as Cape Verde made good use of their numerical advantage to seal the win with a Julio Tavares header.

It is now all to do for Ethiopia and Burkina Faso as both teams go in search of their first points and a chance to progress from Group A in their next fixtures against Cameroon and Cape Verde respectively.