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Hosts Cameroon beat Burkina Faso in opening game of AFCON
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FILE PIC: Cameroon beats Burkina Faso 2-1 in the AFCON 2021 opening match. /AP

FILE PIC: Cameroon beats Burkina Faso 2-1 in the AFCON 2021 opening match. /AP

Vincent Aboubakar scored a brace of penalties as hosts Cameroon came from behind to beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations in Yaounde on Sunday.

Gustavo Sangare had given Burkina Faso the lead in the Group A match at the Olembe Stadium, but Aboubakar equalised from the spot five minutes before the interval after a VAR review.

The 29-year-old, who netted the winner in the 2017 Cup of Nations final against Egypt, then scored what proved to be the decider in first-half stoppage time and he was only denied a hat-trick by an offside flag after the break.

It is the perfect start for the Indomitable Lions as they seek to win their sixth continental title on home soil, with Cameroon finally getting to host a tournament that was taken away from them and given to Egypt in 2019 before being postponed a year ago due to the pandemic.

COVID-19 restrictions limited the crowd at the Olembe Stadium to 80 percent of its 60,000-capacity, but that did not spoil the party for the hosts and celebratory fireworks lit up the sky at full-time.

(With input from AFP)

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