AFCON 2015: Day 1 Scores, Results, Standings and Africa Cup of Nations Schedule
AFCON 2015 kicked off in Bata, Equatorial Guinea on Saturday, as the hosts held Congo to a 1-1 draw in the tournament's first match.
Equatorial Guinea led for the majority of the fixture and will be disappointed not to come away with a win, but a draw against Congo is still a fantastic result for the football minnows.
Gabon opened their campaign with a 2-0 win over Burkina Faso, losing the battle for possession but being far more clinical in front of goal.
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A total of 16 teams have been seeded across four groups, with the top two of every group advancing to the knockout stages late January. Here's how the schedule looks for this year's tournament:
| Jan. 17 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group A | Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Congo |
| Jan. 17 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group A | Burkina Faso 0-2 Gabon |
| Jan. 18 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group B | Zambia v Congo DR |
| Jan. 18 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group B | Tunisia v Cape Verde Islands |
| Jan. 19 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group C | Ghana v Senegal |
| Jan. 19 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group C | Algeria v South Africa |
| Jan. 20 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group D | Ivory Coast v Guinea |
| Jan. 20 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group D | Mali v Cameroon |
| Jan. 21 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group A | Equatorial Guinea v Burkina Faso |
| Jan. 21 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group A | Gabon v Congo |
| Jan. 22 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group B | Zambia v Tunisia |
| Jan. 22 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group B | Cape Verde Islands v Congo DR |
| Jan. 23 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group C | Ghana v Algeria |
| Jan. 23 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group C | South Africa v Senegal |
| Jan. 24 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Group D | Ivory Coast v Mali |
| Jan. 24 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Group D | Cameroon v Guinea |
| Jan. 25 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group A | Congo v Burkina Faso |
| Jan. 25 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group A | Gabon v Equatorial Guinea |
| Jan. 26 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group B | Cape Verde Islands v Zambia |
| Jan. 26 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group B | Congo DR v Tunisia |
| Jan. 27 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group C | Senegal v Algeria |
| Jan. 27 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group C | South Africa v Ghana |
| Jan. 28 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group D | Cameroon v Ivory Coast |
| Jan. 28 | 6 p.m./1 p.m. | Group D | Guinea v Mali |
| Jan. 31 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Quarter-Final 1 | Group A Winner v Group B Second Place |
| Jan. 31 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Quarter-Final 2 | Group B Winner v Group A Second Place |
| Feb. 1 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Quarter-Final 3 | Group C Winner v Group D Second Place |
| Feb. 1 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Quarter-Final 4 | Group D Winner v Group C Second Place |
| Feb. 4 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Semi-Final 1 | Quarter-Final 1 Winner v Quarter-Final 4 Winner |
| Feb. 5 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Semi-Final 2 | Quarter-Final 2 Winner v Quarter-Final 3 Winner |
| Feb. 7 | 4 p.m./11 a.m. | Third-place | Semi-Final 1 Loser v Semi-Final 2 Loser |
| eb. 8 | 7 p.m./2 p.m. | Final | Semi-Final 1 Winner v Semi-Final 2 Winner |
The complete group standings after Day 1:
| 1 | Gabon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Congo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Equatorial Guinea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Burkina Faso | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 1 | Cape Verde | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | DR Congo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Zambia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ghana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Senegal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Guinea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Mali | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Burkina Faso 0-2 Gabon
Gabon beat Burkina Faso 2-0 in the late match on Saturday, playing the counter-attack perfectly to position themselves as leaders in Group A.
Burkina Faso came out in force, overwhelming Gabon's midfielders in an attempt to monopolise the ball. Mohamed Koffi was assigned to the dangerous Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, holding his own in the opening stages.
Alain Traore and Bertrand Traore combined well to set up the first big chance, but Gabon goal-keeper Didier Ovono did well to palm the volley away.
Burkina Faso continued to pile on the pressure, but against a forward as deadly as Aubameyang, the smallest mistake can be lethal. After 19 minutes, the Borussia Dortmund man found himself through on goal and put the ball in the net in two tries.
Goal's Ed Dove greatly enjoyed the finish:
The goal gave Gabon the confidence to open up a little more, and the match turned into a fast-paced encounter filled with end-to-end action. Burkina Faso wanted a penalty after 33 minutes, but the official deemed Bruno Ecuele Manga's clumsy challenge on Ousseni Zongo unworthy of a spot-kick.
ByTheMin Africa disagreed with the decision:
The pace of the match dropped after that, with few changes before the end of the first half. Ed Dove even had time to judge the teams' outfits:
Burkina Faso continued to dominate possession in the second half, but the spark they showed in the early stages of the match was gone. Gabon were happy to just sit back and play their game, using Aubameyang's incredible pace on the counter-attack.
Traore came closest to equalising with a beautiful free kick that dipped just too late, clipping the top of the cross-bar. Instead, the goal fell on the other end of the pitch, as Malick Evouna headed home from close range after a delightful cross from Frederic Bulot.
The forward's international form has truly been exceptional as of late:
Gabon now took control of the ball and moved it around well, forcing Burkina Faso tochase and running out the clock. Traore had one more chance to pull one back after beating two defenders, but his shot was nowhere near the target as Gabon held on for a 2-0 win.
Burkina Faso will face hosts Equatorial Guinea next, while Gabon will play Congo.
Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Congo
The hosts made the brightest start and could have taken the lead after just three minutes, when Javier Balboa was gifted the ball in the centre of the Congo box. His shot was blocked, but the early pressure was a preview of what was to come.
Congo simply couldn't find their rhythm throughout the first half, stringing together sloppy passes and bad touches. Prince Oniangue had the best chance for his side, firing a long-range shot just over the Equatorial Guinea goal.
The hosts continued to increase the pressure and were rewarded after 17 minutes, with Emilio Nsue timing his run well and finishing expertly from close range. The striker picked the perfect time to break his scoring drought, via WhoScored.com:
Equatorial Guinea came into the tournament as heavy underdogs, and the unexpected lead put the home crowd in a frenzy. The players also looked re-energised, leading to a big clash between Boris Moubhio and Kike Seno, with the former seeing the yellow card.
This fan thought the Congo defender was a little out of line with his challenge:
Marvin Baudry came close to tying things up, directing his blast in the side netting after timing his run perfectly. Equatorial Guinea remained the better side, however, controlling possession for large stretches of the match.
Ferebory Dore resorted to a blatant dive to try and get his team in the match, claiming a penalty after 34 minutes. The Daily Telegraph's Sam Crocker was none too impressed with the Congo striker:
Congo added a bit of late pressure but couldn't pull level before the end of the first-half, going into the dressing room with a one-goal deficit. As shared by WhoScored.com, the visitors' pressure as clearly visible in the statistics:
Nsue thought he had bagged his second goal of the tournament after 74 minutes, but despite appearing to be perfectly level when the pass was played, the official called the striker back for offside.
Goal's Ed Dove couldn't believe it:
A mad scramble in front of the hosts' goal nearly resulted in an equaliser, but somehow, an army of Congo players failed to push the ball over the line.
It was only stay of execution, however. Despite Equatorial Guinea's valiant efforts to conserve the clean sheet in the dying stages, Thievy Bifoum managed to equalise late, diving into a gap at the far post and slotting home.
Bifoum nearly teed up Dominique Malonga in injury time to give Congo the win, but the latter inexplicably failed to score from close range.
Ed Dove thought a draw won't help either team, with Burkina Faso and Gabon also lurking in Group A:
Congo manager Claude Le roy told reporters his team only arrived 20 minutes before the start of the match, pointing the finger at event organisers, per Goal's Brian Oliver:
"When we go from our team hotel to the stadium for training it takes 12 minutes.
"
We were on the bus for 65 minutes, stuck in a traffic jam with everybody else. It was 40 degrees Celsius and the air conditioning wasn't working.
I called for help, but the police at the roadside were just laughing. I'm not using it as an excuse, but we started terribly.
If Caf don't understand that there should be a police escort for teams to the stadium, well, they should understand it now.
Equatorial Guinea will play Burkina Faso next, while Gabon will meet Congo in their second match.
