Christian Bassogog
The winger from Dannish side Aalborg proved that his placex in starting line-up was well deserved. Bassogog made the first attempt at goal with a shot that missed narrowly. The 21 year old was having a great evening leaving his marker to chase his shadow.
Benjamin Moukandjo
The indomitable lions skipper accounted well for himself and scored a great freekick on the 35th minute to put Cameroon in the lead.
Alan Traore
The Burkinabe freekick specialist had a great game. He controlled most midfield play by Burkina Faso and had to play a deeper role in the second half just to help his team create more chances. His performance also earned him the man of the match award.
Clinton N’jie
The Marseille winger’s pace caused alot of problems for the Burkina Faso defence and could have gotten his name on on the score sheet only for him to miss from close range with only Koffi to beat after Jacques Zoua’s long range shot was spilled by Koffi.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang
The Gabonese captain had scored a staggering 20 goals in his last 22 games for his Bundesliga side Borrussia Dortmund. The poster boy got on the end of Bounga’s cross to score from close range in the first half. The goal meant he had now scored 3 of the last four opening goals at AFCON (2012,2015 and 2017). Though he could not find a winner for his team he gave a good account for himself.
Zezinho
The captain of the Guinea Bissau side was probably their biggest force of inspiration on the field of play. He combined his fine skills with great leadership qualities to help his team get their first point at the debut Africa Cup of Nations tournament. He was named man of the match and his freekick was the one the resulted into Soares’ equalizer.
Dennis Bounga
The player from the french second division was making his debut for Gabon. Bounga’s low cross led to Gabon’s goal. The winger combined pace and trickery to cause problems for the Guinea Bissau defence.
