Hosts Ivory Coast sink Guinea Bissau to get Afcon up and running

Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso, both from Ivory Coast, managed to score a goal each in the first and second half, respectively. As a result, their team won 2-0 against Guinea Bissau, in the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations. The match was played on Saturday, under extremely humid conditions.

In the beginning of the match, Fofana scored an impressive goal from outside the box and gave his team an early lead within four minutes. Later in the game, Krasso made up for his previous miss by executing a perfect acrobatic shot and netting the ball for the team's second goal just before the 60th minute.

The Ivory Coast team was expected to win against Guinea Bissau, who have yet to win any of their 10 Cup of Nations finals matches. However, the local team faced some injuries and were missing several key players. Despite this, they were happy to start their campaign with a positive result, especially in front of a large crowd of 60,000 people who were eagerly waiting for the game.

The Ivory Coast, who have won twice in this competition, will be competing against Nigeria in a highly anticipated match on Thursday. Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau will also be playing against Equatorial Guinea on the same day. Both teams will be playing at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.

The hosts didn't perform very well and Guinea Bissau missed several opportunities. Despite this, Ivory Coast's coach, Jean-Louis Gasset, knows that at this early stage of the tournament, the important thing is earning three points. Guinea Bissau were left disappointed with their missed chances.

The team from France had a fantastic beginning thanks to Fofana's impressive shot from 20 meters away, which went directly into the top corner. This helped to calm the nerves of the home players and their supporters. However, despite the fast start from the team from Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau was able to settle into the competition and even created a few chances of their own.

Mama Baldé charged ahead and attempted an impressive bike kick instead of using his head, even though he had a great opportunity to even the score with a straight shot at the goal. Unfortunately, his attempt lacked power and was effortlessly saved by Yahia Fofana.

Seko Fofana almost scored a second goal during the match when he struck a strong shot from outside the penalty area. However, Guinea-Bissau's goalkeeper, Ouparine Djoco, made a surprising appearance instead of their usual goalie Jonas Mendes and managed to tip the ball onto the crossbar, preventing the goal.

During the match, the hosts executed a fantastic play just before halftime. Jonathan Bamba provided a pass to Krasso inside the penalty area, but unfortunately, the striker missed the target and the ball went wide.

Guinea-Bissau began the second half with an aggressive approach, but frequently their last delivery was weak and they squandered advantageous spots.

After 58 minutes, the team playing at home scored another goal. Krasso took advantage of the opposing team's uncertain defense and skillfully hit the ball into the goal after making two touches.

Despite having a few opportunities, Guinea-Bissau's goal drought at the Cup of Nations finals has now reached eight games.