Ivory Coast 2-0 Guinea-Bissau: Hosts kick off Cup of Nations with comfortable victory

Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso scored in each half to lead Ivory Coast to a 2-0 Group A victory over Guinea Bissau in Saturday's Africa Cup of Nations opener, which was played in sweltering heat.

Fofana gave his team the lead in the fourth minute with a superb shot from the edge of the box, and Krasso made up for an earlier miss with an acrobatic goal just before the hour mark.

The Ivorians were always favourites against a Guinea Bissau team that has yet to win any of their ten Cup of Nations finals matches, but the hosts, who have several players out due to injury, will be pleased to have started their campaign on a positive note in front of an expected 60,000 spectators.

Ivory Coast, a two-time winner, will play Nigeria in the group's biggest matchup on Thursday, while Guinea-Bissau will face Equatorial Guinea. The games will once again be held at Abidjan's Alassane Ouattara Stadium.

The hosts' performance was far from perfect, and Guinea Bissau will rue several missed opportunities, but Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset will understand that three points are all that matters at this early stage of the tournament.

The Frenchman's side got off to a flying start when Fofana curled a shot into the top corner from 20 metres, calming the nerves of the home players and supporters.

However, following the Ivorians' early lead, Guinea Bissau settled in and created a few chances of its own.

Forward Mama Balde went for a spectacular bicycle kick when he could have gone for a header, and he had a great chance to equalize with a clear run on goal, but his shot was weak and easily saved by Yahia Fofana.

Guinea-Bissau's Ouparine Djoco, a surprise selection over regular goalkeeper Jonas Mendes, tipped Seko Fofana's powerful drive from the edge of the box onto the crossbar.

Before the break, the hosts created another excellent opportunity when Jonathan Bamba fed Krasso in the box, but the striker missed the target.

Guinea-Bissau began the second half on the front foot, but their final passes were frequently poor, and they squandered promising opportunities.

After 58 minutes, the home team doubled their lead when Krasso took advantage of some shaky defending and rifled the ball into the goal.

Guinea-Bissau had a few half-chances after that, but their goalless streak at the Cup of Nations finals has now reached eight games.

SportsLigue