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23 min: Looked like Yahia Fofana got a fingertip on that to divert it on to the bar. Excellent save. Amad is penalised inside his own half for a barge on Namaso.
21 min: Off the bar! Mbeumo finds some space to turn and sets Tchamadeu down the right flank. The wing-back’s cross is low towards the near post and Kofane gets there first and sends the ball against the crossbar. So close for Cameroon.
19 min: Cameroon’s stand-in captain Tolo gets a crucial flick on a Côte d’Ivoire cross to put Kessié off as he went for it at the back post.
17 min: A huge roar goes up as the big screen shows that Kylian Mbappé is in the house – wearing an orange hoodie despite his Cameroonian ancestry.
16 min: Baleba picks up a yellow card for a bit of a lunge on Fofana on halfway. It’s mistimed but nothing more than that.
14 min: Cameroon are getting a bit braver. They sat back for the first few minutes of this one but are now putting some pressure on Côte d’Ivoire in possession. Mbeumo is yet to see much action.
12 min: Big opportunity for Cameroon! It’s wing-back to wing-back as Stoke’s Tchamadeu picks out Yongwa at the back post but his volley hits the side-netting. Up the other end, Kessié sends one over the bar for Côte d’Ivoire.
10 min: Côte d’Ivoire put another ball into the box from a deep free-kick and there’s a shout for handball that falls on deaf ears. Boos and whistles as Cameroon enjoy a bit of possession in their own half.
8 min: Chance for Amad! Diomande jinks inside after the corner comes out and cuts the ball back to Amad on the edge of the penalty area. The Manchester United man tries to bend it inside the near post but his effort flies off target.
6 min: Côte d’Ivoire, in their wonderful all-orange strip, put another ball into the box and Tolo puts it behind for a corner on the stretch.
4 min: A bit of an exciting start. Côte d’Ivoire have settled the quicker.
2 min: Off the post, I think?! Côte d’Ivoire head down the left, Diomande swings a cross towards the back post and it looks like it glances off the upright and away from danger.
Kick-off
There’s a decent crowd in at the Stade de Marrakech. After a minute’s silence for Jean-Louis Gasset, the manager who took Côte d’Ivoire into the last Afcon and who died aged 72 on Friday, Amad Diallo gets us going.
The teams are out. The day’s fourth game at Afcon is about to get under way. Mozambique, Sudan and Algeria were all winners today … who will join them?
“Hi Billy,” writes Peter Oh. “The amount of talent on display makes me go ‘Whoa!’, with an added ‘Wooh!’ in recognition of the Cameroon bench. I’ve got no idea how this match will go. Will Ivory Coast score Fofana? Will the Indomitable Lions expertly Epassy out from the back and make a Baleba out of the sceptical Cameroon fan?”
And so on and so forth … At least it’s not a lineup of footballers with Christmas-themed names. I saw Edin Dzeko-rations the other day. Bleak.
Cameroon: The Indomitable Lions entered this tournament under the cloud of managerial/bureaucratic chaos. Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon federation, finally got his wish and the Belgian head coach Marc Brys was dismissed earlier this month. Brys, appointed by the Cameroonian sports ministry last year against the wishes of Eto’o, contested the sacking and picked his own squad for Afcon.
David Pagou, a coach in the Cameroonian domestic league and former assistant with the national team, is now in the dugout. He’s having to do without the injured Napoli midfielder Frank Anguissa and has left senior figures like Vincent Aboubakar and André Onana out of his squad. They beat Gabon in their opener thanks to Karl Etta Eyong’s early goal.
Côte d’Ivoire: The holders won their opening game 1-0 thanks to Amad Diallo’s second-half strike. Emerse Faé is having to fill a Sebastian Haller-sized hole up front. The Utrecht striker’s goals helped fire Les Éléphants to the title two years ago but he’s not in Morocco due to a hamstring injury.
Wilfried Zaha, now playing in MLS with Charlotte, started the first game and now Vakoun Bayo of Udinese gets his chance to lead the line.
Recap: Already in Group F today, Mozambique have beaten Gabon 3-2 to claim their first win at Afcon since 1986 – when their 42-year-old captain, Elias Pelembe, was a toddler.
In Group E, Sudan have given themselves a great chance of progressing to the knockouts with a 1-0 win against Equatorial Guinea. A Riyad Mahrez penalty means Algeria currently lead Burkina Faso 1-0 with around 10 minutes to go.
Team news: Amad and Mbeumo start
Côte d’Ivoire XI (4-3-3): Fofana; Doué, Koussounou, N’Dicka, Konan; Kessié, Fofana, Sangaré; Amad, Bayo, Diomande.
Subs: Lafont, Koné, Zohouri, Operi, Agbadou, Gbamin, Diomande, Boly, Oulai, Seri, Touré, Guessand, Krasso, Diakité, Zaha
Charlotte’s Wilfried Zaha drops to the bench for the holders, with Udinese’s Vakoun Issouf Bayo given a start up front.
Cameroon XI (3-5-2): Epassy; Malone, Kotto, Tolo; Tchamadeu, Avom, Baleba, Namaso, Yongwa; Mbeumo, Kofane
Subs: Ngapandouetnbu, Omossola, Wooh, Boyomo, Nyamsi, Nagida, Kamdem, Onana, Kemen, Bassagog, Ebimbe, Etta Eyong, Magri, N’Koudou, Soko.
Cameroon’s goalscorer from their opening game, Karl Etta Eyong, is replaced by Bayer Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane up top.
Preamble
Hello and welcome. We’re a week into the Africa Cup of Nations now and really getting down to business. Tonight, two of the continent’s heavyweights meet in Marrakech as the reigning champions, Côte d’Ivoire, take on Cameroon in Group F.
Both teams won their opening match 1-0 on Christmas Eve and, realistically, this is a showdown for top spot in the group – though Mozambique will have something to say after beating Gabon earlier today. Don’t ask me about permutations but, with the four best third-placed teams also heading to the last 16, a draw tonight will all but guarantee both teams’ progression to the knockouts.
Kick-off at the Stade de Marrakech is at 8pm (GMT). If you’ve got any thoughts on the game, or any of the action at Afcon today, you can get in touch via email.
