And that will do from me! Thanks a lot for your company. The hosts march on, even if this wasn’t their finest-ever hour, and will play their last-16 tie a week today. Cape Verde can feel optimistic of joining them but must wait til everyone’s done in the group stage, because two third-place sides won’t make it. See you again tomorrow, I hope, because we’ll have Senegal v Malawi especially for you.
Full-time: Cape Verde 1-1 Cameroon
Cameroon win the group, Burkina Faso come second – their 1-1 draw with Ethiopia is confirmed – and Cape Verde get third place! With four points they are likely to go through ... but a lot of these groups are very tight so they’ll be waiting a few days to know for sure.
90+2 min: Cape Verde must now hold on from a corner. It’s cleared but N’Jie sees a shot deflected *just* wide and it’s a nervy time here – that is until Vozinha punches the next flag kick away before going down, and probably secures them the result.
90+1 min: Fortes concedes a very, very dangerous free-kick right on the left edge of the box now, though, as we enter three minutes of added time. It’s on the wire for Cape Verde here. Anguissa steps up ... and strikes the wall, follow-up pinging behind after being deflected twice.
90 min: Aboubakar tries to contrive a winner but his backheel can’t find a teammate. Cameroon do win another corner shortly afterwards but Cape Verde, so resilient here, survive.
87 min: Cape Verde defend a corner well and edge closer to their target. We’ll now see two more Cameroon subs – Mbaizo and Jean Onana on for Gouet and Fai. Too many subs breaks, it’s tedious.
86 min: Diney appears to be on his feet and walking round the pitch to the bench, so no huge issue there it seems.
84 min: Still 1-1 in Bafoussam, where Ethiopia need a goal and Burkina Faso need not to concede. The latter seem reasonably comfortable just now.
83 min: Diney goes off on a stretcher and Fortes comes on. Hopefully it’s not serious.
82 min: Anguissa is booked for a foul on Diney, who is in pain. It’s all just a bit scrappy and fragmented now. The number of permitted subs doesn’t help in this kind of game, where neither side really needs to force the issue.
Updated
79 min: Cape Verde do send in a free-kick from the right now, forcing Moukoudi to defend awkwardly, but the clock is ticking down nicely for them.
78 min: Here are those subs ... Nenass on for Monteiro and Furtado replacing Santos.
77 min: Cape Verde have all but given up attacking now they have their point in view but they’ll make some subs soon. N’Jie almost gets away in the box but is snuffed out.
74 min: He seems OK. On we go ... so can anyone in either of these 1-1 games score a winner?
73 min: Vozinha, a 35-year-old mainstay in goal, goes down awkwardly after taking a deep cross and needs treatment.
71 min: Immediately an N’Jie corner is volleyed at the back post by ... I think ... Ngadjui and Vozinha parries well.
70 min: A familiar face arrives for Cameroon now – N’Jie, the ex-Spurs star, replaces Ekambi. And here’s another, Stoke old boy Choupo-Moting on for Ngamadeu. Seems Cameroon want the win after all.
Updated
68 min: A Lea Siliki corner comes to nothing. Cameroon have stepped things up a bit.
67 min: Semedo off and Joao Paulo on for Cape Verde.
66 min: Ooooh, Aboubakar misses a sitter! The first cross is cleared away; the second, better delivery is parried by Vozinha ... straight to the feet of the previously unerring striker, who spoons over!
65 min: Cameroon have barely offered a thing going forward in this half though. The pace has gone right down and I’m not overly surprised. Diney is booked for a foul on Anguissa though, and the hosts can send a free-kick in.
63 min: A bit of flashy stuff from Anguissa down by the left corner flag pleases the crowd, but doesn’t really go anywhere.
62 min: Here is Lea Siliki, on for Kunde.
61 min: We will soon see another name from the English leagues, Middlesbrough’s James Lea Siliki, come on for Cameroon.
58 min: Will the sides shake hands on this now? Four points gives Cape Verde a great chance of going through, whatever happens elsewhere, while three really doesn’t. And seven wins the group for Cameroon.
56 min: Big surprise, on the face of things, that the Olympiacos forward Rodrigues didn’t start this game. That was such a smart, deft finish.
Goal! Cape Verde 1-1 Cameroon (Rodrigues, 53)
AND WE GET IT! Wow. It’s the substitute, Rodrigues, who flicks home sublimely with his heel after Monteiro gets away down the right and squares on the half-volley. Well, well. In the space of a minute this group has sprung back to life.
Updated
52 min: It’s 1-1 in Bafoussam as Kebede converts the spot kick! This group isn’t done and dusted just yet, although we need another goal for at least one of Ethiopia and Cape Verde to change things definitively.
50 min: A defensive mix-up forces Vozinha to react desperately to thwart Ekambi ... and that Ethiopia penalty has, meanwhile, been given.
49 min: Cameroon win a corner down on the right, but it’s defended well enough. Pico then nicks the second ball away. In Bafoussam there’s a long VAR check for an Ethiopia penalty ...
47 min: Monteiro almost sends Tavares clear, and should, but messes up his pass.
46 min: Kunde shoots over from range almost immediately.
Peeeeeep! Here comes the second half
We eventually get started after some confusion – Rodrigues, a Cape Verde forward who has come on as a sub for Lisandro Semedo, took some time to come down the tunnel and held things up.
Updated
Can Cape Verde find a way back and make this interesting? They’ll need a tad more guile. But Cameroon do have a defensive error in them and we’ve seen signs of that even today.
The Fiver has landed!
In Bafoussam, Burkina Faso lead Ethiopia 1-0 at the break and will finish second as we stand.
Half-time: Cape Verde 0-1 Cameroon
A foul and yellow card for Fai brings one more free-kick from Cape Verde, near the left byline, and another big defensive block from the hosts – then the whistle. Aboubakar’s fifth goal of the tournament puts Cameroon, who haven’t been firing on all cylinders, well in the box seat to top this group. Cape Verde showed some life after going behind but haven’t had a lot beyond set pieces. If they can’t find a leveller they will face a very anxious wait to see if they’ll play in the knock-outs.
44 min: Cape Verde have come back quite well, and Anguissa is again rash in conceding a free-kick on the left. It almost leads to a goal! After Cameroon fail to clear, the ball is chipped back in from the right and Onana misses it, only being bailed out by Moukoudi as a Cape Verde attacked prepares to knock it in! Onana does rather better in grabbing the resulting corner.
42 min: And now a wild Anguissa backpass concedes a cheap corner. Can Cape Verde strike straight back thanks to this gift? Nope, it’s hacked away.
41 min: Cape Verde need to go for a goal now, and they come close-ish when Lisandro Semedo glances a free-kick wide.
Updated
Goal! Cape Verde 0-1 Cameroon (Aboubakar, 39)
Clinical! Ngamaleu puts in a deep free-kick from the right, Moukoudi challenges for it with a defender, and the ball drops for Aboubakar, 15 yards out, to lash a superb low finish beyond Vozinha!
Updated
38 min: Aboubakar chases a long pass from Onana but Pico, a rock so far, intervenes. Meanwhile, Ethiopia are pushing for an equaliser in Bafoussam and have just been denied – not for the first time – by a fine save.
37 min: It wasn’t, because the set piece is sloppy.
36 min: Fai concedes a messy foul on the far touchline and Cape Verde can take their time over a free-kick, which they most certainly do. It brings a corner, so the wait may have been worth it.
34 min: Aboubakar shows great strength to wriggle around Pico and whips in a low shot that Vozinha tips wide. That’s good work from all parties. Cape Verde deal with the corner.
Updated
32 min: Kunde goes for goal, 20 yards out and a bit to the left, but it’s into the wall. A follow-up is then blocked too.
30 min: As things stand this group would finish in exactly the order expected – Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ethiopia. Now Cameroon speed things up with some lovely passing from the back and the dyed red-headed Patrick concedes a very dangerous-looking free-kick with a foul on Ngamaleu ...
27 min: Cape Verde win their first corner, but they don’t do a lot with it.
25 min: Burkina Faso have scored against Ethiopia! They lead 1-0 with a lob from Cyrille Bayala. They can’t come above Cameroon but would definitely come above Cape Verde with three points, so a win sees them home.
Updated
24 min: Pico bashes clear as Cameroon look to work space on the right.
22 min: The game stops briefly for Santos to sort his laces out. Cape Verde are quite happy for things not to move too quickly.
20 min: Cameroon try to build again but it’s a really solid, compact defensive bloc from Cape Verde now. This is panning out as expected – not a particularly open watch but a tactically interesting one.
17 min: Aboubakar flashes a snap-shot not too far past the angle, with Vozinha diving desperately.
16 min: In further solidification, Cape Verde are now playing with a back three and wing-backs.
15 min: A defensive mistake by Ngadjui almost lets Cape Verde in but he’s bailed out by Tolo. Cape Verde have settled things down a bit. It’ll be interested to see how this game pans out if it’s level after, say, an hour because a point would suit everyone quite well.
12 min: I’ve just watched Ethiopia, who play some really stunning technical football but are often bested physically, come very close to scoring against Burkina Faso ... before almost gifting them an opener at the other end. Goalless there too but looks an entertaining start.
10 min: Cameroon are one of the few teams in this tournament that actively play a pressing game and it’s working so far, they’re smothering their visitors.
@NickAmes82 #AFCON2021 allows many new and/or small countries to strut their ⚽️ stuff. Equivalent to Comoros 🇰🇲 or Gambia 🇬🇲 would be like #UEFA nations of Cyprus 🇨🇾 or Estonia 🇪🇪 qualifying.
— Stuart Watson (@satnavstu) January 17, 2022
Yes, and none of these countries have been embarrassed. Gambia should be through to the knock-outs and Sierra Leone & Equatorial Guinea could be among those joining them!
7 min: Good chance for Cameroon as sloppy passing from Stopira is cut out by Ngamaleu, who has Aboubakar free to his left, but Pico – as Lopes is known, and will be known from hereon in this MBM – defends superbly. The corner comes to little.
Updated
6 min: Anguissa almost pushes for the right byline but is crowded out. Cape Verde’s defending has been messy but effective so far.
5 min: Cameroon are controlling these opening moments. They have played at a nice tempo, befitting of a host nation, in their games so far. I think Cape Verde, who are no slouches, will be looking to dig in and counter if and when they can.
2 min: Formation news – for all the fancy shapes I laid out at the top of the show, it looks like both sides have gone 4-4-2 to begin with. Ekambi is up top alongside Aboubakar for Cameroon in a potent duo that have six goals between them so far. Cameroon win an early corner but Moukoudi heads it well over.
Peeeeep! Off we go!
Cameroon are in yellow shirts and green shorts, Cape Verde all in white. The hosts kick us off and go from right to left!
It’s still nice and loud in there though. I’ve put Burkina Faso v Ethiopia, the group’s other deciding game, on my phone so if my eyes hold out I’ll keep you apprised of that.
The teams are on the pitch and hollering the anthems! As in their first two group games, Cameroon get to play in the capital city Yaounde. And as in the second of those, it’s far from full in there – fans need to vaccinated and negative Covid-19 tested to enter and, in what is a damning indictment on the way the world works, only 2.5% of Cameroonians have had two jabs.
Are you watching AFCON and how are you enjoying it? Email me and tell me more.
Premier League stars on show today: none. The best I can give you are ex-Fulham midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, now at Napoli, and – probably more interestingly – the Shamrock Rovers centre-back Roberto Lopes. In a cracking story, the Dublin-born Lopes was originally sounded out for a call-up via LinkedIn but let it slide for nine months. Eventually he was advised that it wasn’t a prank, and here we are today!
Starting lineups
Cape Verde (3-4-2-1): Vozinha; Diney, Lopes, Stopira; Fortes, Andrade, Santos, Tavares; L Semedo, Monteiro; W Semedo.
Cameroon (4-1-4-1): Onana; Fai, Moukoudi, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Tolo; Gouet; Ngamaleu, Kunde, Anguissa, Ekambi; Aboubakar.
Hello
This AFCON has caught light, hasn’t it? I’ll grant you it had a fairly sluggish start, particularly for newbies who might have found the lack of goals slow going, but we’ve got a tournament on our hands now! Once the jeopardy kicked in, things started opening up – and yesterday was a wild, dramatic and surprising a group stage night as you’ll see anywhere. I’m heading out there on Thursday and cannot wait, so hands up to a vested interest in things continuing similarly.
The jeopardy is watered down in this, the host nation Cameroon’s third game, to a small extent: they’re already through, with two wins in two and some feisty attacking football into the bargain. The remaining question for them is whether they’ll finish first or second: a point would secure the former. As a side note – should they finish second their last-16 tie would, as things stand, be played in Limbe, an area where there has been some trouble due to the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, and I daresay the authorities would like to avoid that.
For Cape Verde, who tend to be competent and organised but not flashy, the equation is trickier. They would end up in the top two with a win and a point, which would leave them with four, should mean they go through with the best third-placed teams. Defeat would mean they remain third but it’s likely only one or two, at most, teams that finish on three points will go through – they may have to wait until as late as Thursday to find out.
We’ll know far more very soon – get your tweets and emails in, and away we go!
Updated
