Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso scored in each half of the delayed AFCON 2023 tournament opening game to help hosts Cote d’Ivoire secured a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau, on Saturday night.
Fofana gave the hosts a fourth minute lead with a superb shot from the edge of the box before Krasso made up for an earlier miss when he acrobatically netted a second just before the hour to start their campaign on a positive note in front of an expectant 60,000 crowd.
Côte d’Ivoire, seeking a third continental crown after previous triumphs in 1992 and 2015, dominated for long period of the clash without creating too many clear-cut chances.
Mama Balde had the underdogs’ best chance in the 29th minute, but his weak shot was easily saved by Yahia Fofana after Mauro Rodrigues reacted quickly to a lapse in the home defence.
Guinea-Bissau also came close to halving the deficit with 18 minutes to go after Balde pounced on a defensive error and teed up Franculino Dju, but the substitute’s effort was well kept out by Yahia Fofana.
Dju and Junior Ze Turbo looked lively after coming on for Guinea-Bissau with both sets of players toiling in the humid conditions, but they were unable to put their side on the board as Côte d’Ivoire made a solid start to their title bid.
Twice winners Ivorian Elephants face Nigeria in the biggest match-up in the group on Thursday, while Guinea-Bissau take on Equatorial Guinea on the same day. The games will again be played at Abidjan’s