That’s it for the moment, with full AFCon roundup to follow later.
Full-time: Senegal 3-1 Cameroon
Senegal close it out on the attack. They dominated the game but had it not been for Nkoudou’s miss it would have been 2-2. Senegal go through after Sadio Mane seized on that miss and made it six points so far for the holders. Cameroon have much to do when they play The Gambia on Tuesday.
Goal! Senegal 3-1 Cameroon (Mane, 90+5)
That’s what happens when you miss the big chances. Off goes Gueye and Mane makes one of his runs, and supplies one his finishes. Pincer-like, sheer quality. Cameroon’s players drop to the floor in agony.
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90+5 min: Oh no! Castelletto’s ball is a beauty and Nkoudou cannot miss….but he can, and the ball flies over. How did he miss? Cameroon have blown it…
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90+4 min: Mane spins and turns, just like the old days. He has options but his pass is poor. That was not the best match play.
90+2 min: There’s been very little played for a while, Cameroon’s attacks coming in fits and starts while Senegal keep trying to run the clock down.
90 min: There will be seven minutes added on. Kári Tulinius gets in touch: “I like how Aliou Cissé has found ways to allow his forwards to express themselves. The attacking patterns all seem so well thought out, and Ismaïla Sarr never plays better than when in the kit of the Teranga Lions, which bodes well for Senegal’s title defense.”
89 min: Castelletto dropping deep, switching play. He wants this. Camara is down again, and that looks like the end for the much-wanted midfielder. He looks goosed. Pape Ciss will come on for him.
88 min: Where did this contest come from? Cameroon living up to their Indomitable Lions nickname. Castelletto, to the fore, is meanwhile having a row with Mane.
86 min: Oof! Close. Castelletto smashes the ball in, Magri flicks on and Nkoudou just narrowly misses, swinging a leg at it.
85 min: Well, we have a game now. Meanwhile, Camara is hurt for Senegal and being carried off. What once looked serene progress will have to be seen out.
Goal! Senegal 2-1 Cameroon (Castelletto, 83
The game has broken down with all the subs, bookings and injuries. But what’s this? A free-kick from the right-hand side and Castelletto heads in. Game on. Their first shot on target.
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80 min: Nasty fall from Diallo and the referee calls for a stretcher. He’s up and moving but Diallo is replaced by Nicolas Jackson, and off comes Ismaila Sarr as N’Diaye, once of Sheffield United, comes on.
79 min: Neyou comes off with a limp, and Ntcham comes on.
77 min: Samuel Eto’o knows the camera is on him and must know his team have been worse than second-best here.
74 min: Nasty foul from Neyou sees him getting a booking. He’s apologetic to Ismaila Sarr,
72 min: Subs: Gana Gueye on for Senegal and Moumbagna on for Cameroon, Ngamaleu off for Cameroon and Pape Sarr off for Senegal.
71 min: Andre Onana is furious with his defenders. That was so easy for Senegal, who have sat on their lead and almost scored at will. The defending champs look in very good order and their fans are loving life.
Goal! Senegal 2-0 Cameroon (Habib Diallo, 70)
Senegal move forward in numbers, spread the ball wide, and Cameroon step out. Ismaila Sarr’s ball cuts across the box and Diallo scores.
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67 min: Song meanwhile, clad in his trademark garb, cap and trainers, is urging on his team. Mendy’s turn to look like a dodgy keeper as he spills a cross from Nkoudou. Pape Gueye, who has been excellent, sweeps up the danger. For some reason, he isn’t getting much of a game at Marseille.
66 min: Joe Pearson gets in touch: “As far as I can tell from your commentary, it seems like maybe Cameroon should have let Onana stay retired. He was sent home from the Human Rights World Cup, mainly because he clashed with Song, who is still there. How could this possibly go wrong?”
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65 min: Another Cameroon free-kick. We await their first shot on target. Nkoudou wafts it over everyone and out. Frustration is boiling.
63 min: The other Diallo – Habib – handles the ball rather than controls it in a promising position. That was a waste.
62 min: Diallo is steaming at that booking, really annoyed. Senegal have to make sure they are not pulled down to Cameroon’s level.
60 min: Getting scrappy, this. Tempers fraying, too. The stadium drums’ tempo is getting quicker and quicker too.
58 min: Abdou Diallo is booked for a foul on Ngamaleu that looked a tussle between the two rather than a foul. Diallo will miss Senegal’s key game against DR Congo as a result of two bookings.
56 min: Penalty call? No, Tolo robs Diallo in the corner. A fine tackle that he celebrates.
55 min: Cameroon get a free-kick and Nkoudou gets the chance to whip it. Kemen heads over but Mendy was never likely to be beaten from there. Down the other end, Mane sets off on a sojourn but is robbed.
52 min: Senegal yet to find the stride of the first half. Koulibaly gets it launched and Cameroon’s Wooh gets a telling off from the Sudanese ref.
50 min: Cameroon attempt a slow buildup. Bit more confident on the ball before Zambo-Anguissa falls to the floor without too much of a touch on him. No foul.
48 min: Castelletto is booked for a high foul on Habibou Diallo. The elbow was swinging loosely. At best.
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Breaking news: Tanzania coach suspended
Reuters – Tanzania coach Adel Amrouche has been suspended at the Africa Cup of Nations finals for making insulting remarks about Morocco, who beat the east African side 3-0 in their opening game at the tournament on Wednesday.The Tanzania Football Federation said the Confederation of African Football (CAF) disciplinary committee had suspended Amrouche for eight matches following a complaint submitted by Morocco. CAF have yet to make an announcement.
“In another step, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has suspended coach Amrouche. As a result of that decision, Hemed Morocco has been appointed acting coach and he will be assisted by Juma Mgunda,” TFF spokesman Clifford Mario Ndimbo said. Amrouche had said that Morocco held too much sway in the corridors of power in African football and were influencing the appointment of referees.
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46 min: We are back underway, and it’s time to see what Cameroon can offer.
Half-time reading. Not easy but important.
Half-time Senegal 1-0 Cameroon
That was as comprehensive 1-0 lead as you will see. It took a mistake from Andre Onana to hand them the lead – and a deflection – but Senegal have been streets ahead of Cameroon.
45+3 min: Camara breaks up the play and is cropped to the floor by Kemen. That’s a deserved yellow card.
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45+2 min: Cameroon not exactly pressing Mendy as he is passed the ball. Instead, up the other end, Ismaila Sarr attempts a flick round the corner.
45 min: Cameroon free-kick, aimed in by Nkoudou with four minutes added on at the end of the half.
43 min: Cameroon have so much to find in the second half. For the moment, they are hanging on in this game.
41 min: Cameroon can’t get the ball off a dominant Senegal who are now probing and looking for their second goal. Habib Diallo is robbed in the box. Desperate clearance to Magri, but Senegal are again back in numbers.
40 min: On Camara, from Ed Aarons, earlier this month.
Lamine Camara, Metz
The 19-year-old only joined Metz in February but made scouts all over Europe pay attention when he scored from inside his own half against Monaco in October. The latest talent to emerge from the Génération Foot academy in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, that also produced Sadio Mané and Ismaïla Sarr, Camara was crowned this month as CAF’s young African player of the year after 12 months of dizzying progress. Having been voted player of the tournament as Senegal won the African Nations Championship for domestic‑based players in January, he was also named the best player at the African under-20s in March. Compared to Kevin De Bruyne and Toni Kroos, the midfielder is reportedly on the radar of several English clubs including Brighton and Chelsea, who are also expected to sign the Senegal under-17 midfielder Pape Daouda Diong. The Génération Foot winger Amara Diouf – a 15-year-old who won his first senior cap in September – is another emerging star being heavily monitored.
39 min: Senegal continue to dominate possession, and Lamine Camara plays in Mane, and it takes a fine interception from Tchato to close that off. Camara, just 20, looks one hell of a player.
37 min: Senegal back in numbers as Ngamaleu surges on. The ball he wants to play into the centre is crowded out. Cameroon really struggling in attack.
35 min: Camara’s free-kick is at Onana, who does well to claim but then launches the ball long and straight back to Senegal. Song is unlikely to be impressed.
34 min: Not much of a rest and Senegal take up the pace. Mane is buzzing around, pulling defenders with him. Onana is meanwhile barking orders at his defence.
32 min: And now for a much-needed cooling break…Cameroon need to regroup.
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30 min: Better punch from Onana after a cross is whipped in from the wing. Ismaila Sarr, the goalscorer, was behind it.
28 min: Abdou Diallo’s defensive header is poor and he requires Eduoard Mendy coming out and chasing the ball away as a lonesome Magri chases the loose ball. Senegal clear their lines.
27 min: Zambo-Anguisia forces a corner and is annoyed when his teammates don’t chase him up the field. So is his manager. The corner is cleared.
25 min: Senegal have been by far the better team, winning the midfield battle. Onana comes out with the ball, just as Song and Eto’o told him off for in Qatar. It’s all going off.
23 min: Samuel Eto’o pictured on the sidelines in a nice linen suit. He’s head of the Cameroon FA. Going for a [Rigobert] Song?
21 min: Diallo escapes for Senegal. The offside flag is late, very late.
19 min: Cameroon staring down the barrel here. Senegal’s attack has been pushing at their defence while defending well since the early moments.
17 min: Manchester United fans may recognise that goal from this season. Onana’s punch was poor, Sarr’s finish was decent. Rigobert Song looks most annoyed at the defending.
Goal! Senegal 1-0 Cameroon (Ismaila Sarr, 16)
Camara puts on the afterburners the ball goes out for a corner. That’s cleared, and it drops to Ismaila Sarr. Onana’s punch is poor and it’s hit hard, off Zambo and into the net.
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14 min: A decent run down the inside channel from Diallo but again the defence wins out. Lots of attacking here, but some decent defending, too.
12 min: Now here go Cameroon, and now Ngamaleu takes a knock. He’ll be ok, the Dynamo Moscow player. Or will he? He takes some time to leave the field.
10 min: Another Senegal corner. Both teams are stacking them up. Mane will take, Koulibaly climbs but can’t get there. Then Mane gets involved again but gets caught offside.
7 min: The ball swung into the Senegal box but again the ball is headed clear. Nkoudou has been to the fore. He plays for Damac in the Saudi league now.
4 min: Koulibaly, once a Napoli stalwart, now in Saudi Arabia after things didn’t go so well at Chelsea, was guilty of ball-watching. At the other end, Onana is not happy with his defenders, either. End to end, it continues.
2 min: Free-kick to Cameroon. Nkoudou smashes in the ball but it’s cleared. The same player almost gets across to the ball and it takes Sarr to clear the danger. This is a relentless pace. Heavy Tottenham vibes there.
1 min: Here we go. It starts off with some zest, Mane sent down the wing and calling for a foul. Then Mendy, the Senegal keeper, comes out and has to be bailed out by his defenders.
The national anthems sound, and here comes the action. Nicolas Jackson is on the bench for Senegal in a low-slung stadium in Yamoussoukro, the capital city.
Note on Nottingham Forest’s Cheikhou Kouyate, who is on the bench for Senegal after the death of his father, and having attended the funeral.
Aliou Cisse of Senegal v Rigobert Song of Cameroon, memories of the 2002 final in Mali. Cisse missed the fateful penalty kick.
For this game, Andre Onana is in goal but captain and 2021 top scorer Vincent Aboubakar misses out again with a thigh injury. Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr comes is in Senegal’s midfield. Have Onana and Song sorted their differences? It would appear so.
According to reports
— INTERCONTINENTAL SPORTS TV (@oneistv) January 16, 2024
It took El Hadji Diouf to calm Cameroon goalie Andre Onana down as he’s not happy with the decision not be part of the team yesterday.
Cameroon coach, Rigobert Song didn’t have a word with Onana when he arrived in camp via private jet after playing for… pic.twitter.com/OivPYE26W0
The big news from Thursday’s matches was Salah’s injury.
Jurgen Klopp spoke earlier today: “We don’t know anything. I spoke last night with him and how it is with these injuries, you need further assessment. That’s what they are doing now and then we will know more. Of course, it was in that moment a shock: ‘Oh my God, what is it?. We all know how rarely Mo goes off or needs to go off so there is definitely something and we will see.”
Housekeeping: 100% record for the Cape Verde Islands.
⌚ FULL-TIME!
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 19, 2024
The Blue Sharks put on a show and defeat Mozambique with 3 goals to nil! 💥#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 | #CPVMOZ pic.twitter.com/sxlDFE6RjH
Remember the name: Bebe.
Bebé's long range free-kick gives Cape Verde the lead! 💥 pic.twitter.com/qIAHiHjxlE
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 19, 2024
Senegal v Cameroon teams
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Diatta, Koulibaly, Abdou Diallo, Jakobs, Camara, Pape Sarr, Pape Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Habibou Diallo, Mane. Subs: Ahmadou Dieng, Gomis, Formose Mendy, Seck, Idrissa Gueye, Nampalys Mendy, Jackson, Kouyate, Ciss, Ballo-Toure, Iliman-Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaw.
Cameroon: Onana, Castelletto, Wooh, Tchato, Tolo, Neyou, Kemen, Zambo, Nkoudou, Magri, Ngamaleu. Subs: Ondoa, Moukoudi, Toko Ekambi, Ateba, Tchamadeu, Gonzalez, Epassy, Yongwa, Moumbagna, Elliott, Ntcham, Mputu.
Preamble
Andre Onana, your time is now. Having flown over from Manchester and not played in Cameroon’s opening match, he is expected to face the hosts in his team’s second match. The Indomitable Lions drew 1-1 with Guinea in their opener, while Senegal required until the last minute of time added on to beat Niger in their warmup but then beat Guinea 3-0 in their first game. So, plenty to play for here, in a clash of the continent’s titans.
Kick-off is at 5pm UK time. Join me.
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