Cameroon came from 3-0 down to level at 3-3 against Burkina Faso before going on to win 5-3 on penalty shootout to finish third at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Indomitable Lions have now claimed a first AFCON bronze for the first time since 1972 when they hosted the tournament.
The Burkinabe went into the break 2-0 up through Steeve Yago’s opener on 24 minutes and Andre Onana’s own goal in first half added time.
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With just four minutes into the second half Burkina Faso went 3-0 ahead thanks to a Djibril Ouattara’s header.
But roared on by the home supporters, Cameroon hit back with Stephane Bahoken pulling a goal back on 71 minutes.
Vincent Aboubakar, who came on before the start of the second half, nodded in a corner to make it 3-2 on 85 minutes.
And just two minutes later Aboubakar netted his eight goal of the tournament as he pounced on a loose ball after Burkina Faso keeper dropped a cross.
The game went into penalties with Cameroon scoring all their five kicks while Ibrahim Toure missed for Burkina Faso.
This year’s AFCON will come to an end on Sunday when Egypt take on Senegal in the final.
While Senegal will be targeting a first ever AFCON title, Egypt will hope to make it a record-extending right continental title.
17 Comments
I see Eypgt winning tomorrow against Senegal not because they have top players in Bayarn, Madrid, mancity of Liverpool but because they have top Coach with a very strong winning mentality. Every knows about Carlos Queiros quality. If Egpyt can afford such high quality coach with a rich pedigree I see no reason why Nigeria continues to mess around with low grade Coaches.
Granted that high quality coaches are very expensive to maintain but we have some rich men and companies in Nigeria who can support NNF in paying the salaries.Thats the paradigm most nations adopt.
Instead People like Dangote and other airlines owners parading the SE camps to promise them heaven and earth for every goal scored they can channel such resources to support NNF in bringing a high pedigree coach to manage the SE. Nigerians love football and the only time Nigeria is completely one and detribilized is when SE is doing well. So if This country have blessed u immensely [ referring to Dangote and the like] pls leave going to buy arsenal and give back to the society by supporting NFF to hire and maintain a quality coach for SE. Some one in the class of Carlos Quienrose and Nigerians fans will live never to forget u.
Is it the same quiros that was clueless against Nigeria?
Senegal has been using a local Coach to dominate over the years. Algeria the same thing. It goes beyond world class coach my brother.
Some are good at noise making.
@Christian ministries, you even had time to respond.
His real name is Carlos Queiroz, the coach of Egypt National Team, for those of us still learning the ropes. And that won’t turn the scope of this discourse to the part of ‘new normal’, that’s leaving the substance for the shadows, then it’s completely out of point(OP). No sane person subscribe to OP.
Lest I forget, I would like to congratulate the Lions of Cameroon for a well deserved victory. Cameroon had wanted the gold but got the bronze and went to entertain the continent with a spectacularly celebration frenzy, Vincent Abuboukar, the man who plies his trade in a Saudi Arabia league once again came and turned the game around. I continue to tell us had Odion Ighalo been in Cameroon with our domestic coach, Austin Eguavoen, the table would’ve turned in SE favour. I resolutely gave it all to history while I’m happy Odion is now available for selection.
I wanted to keep this till 10pm tomorrow but to think of it now, Egypt and Senegal aren’t the best teams in Afcon21 but here they are in the finals. I saw a detour and realised there’s what’s called off days in football. The Austin Eguavoen led Nigerian team played a better football(the one that kept the World glued to their TV sets) than any team in Afcon21 but experienced their off day exiting the tourney as when they did, round of 16, we were all pained but have accepted to soldier on with our own (It was only 2 weeks preparation). Lessons had been learnt as the WC play offs begin in few weeks away requiring every concentration than distractions. The Super Eagles are on the right track irrespective. The Coach has been given more time than the 2 weeks he had in Cameroon, that’s the difference.
*Pius Obemhen is a freelancer and a CSN forum member who is commenting and interested in the Nigerian local content policy of Mr. President Buhari as it relates to commiting resources to our domestic development than looking out for short cuts. He has written more on the Belgium Blueprint and its applicability.
A keypad suggested error: Aboubakar not Aboubakar
Well accepted Mr. Obemhen, thanks.
Some Nigeria fans called it “nothing”. But Cameroon celebrated the Afcon bronze medal as if they had won the trophy itself.
What a comeback!
B/Faso have themselves to blame. It is up to them to explain how they managed to blow a 3 goal lead with 20 mins to go.
Having said that, some controversy exists. Aboubakar clearly pushed a B/Faso defender before scoring the equalizer. A push like that is a foul, and it was clear for all to see. Why was that push ignored?
@ 442, a world class coach for Nigeria would be nice, but as long as our football administration remains under par, there would be little to no progress.
Rohr was sacked for performance reasons, but the NFF that sacked him contributed largely to that!
Poor pitches, nonpayment of coaches salaries, nonpayment of players bonuses, interfering in player selection, strange selection of match venues, taking forever to implement the switching of important players, and a host of other issues.
Thus, we found ourselves in a situation where an underperforming manager sacks an underperforming employee.
People keep talking about how Rohr had 6 years with the team and did not produce enough. How about NFF? In all that time, what progress has the NFF made?
Instead of progress, what we’ve got is an abundance of problems.
For example, we’ve got an NFF that struggles to make money by itself, even though it’s sitting on such a huge football market as Nigeria, and even beyond.
A football leadership that does not know how to monetize football is comparable to a chef that can’t cook.
This is just one of the numerous issues facing the NFF.
We the fans need to start blaming the NFF directly when the SE fail.
Yes, the players have their share of blame, and so does the coach. However, the NFF should bear the bulk of the blame.
We need the NFF to step up and start taking care of business.
We need the NFF to start getting it right, and work to create an enabling environment that facilitates the progress of our football.
I can’t agree more. Amaju is incompetent, and he’s the major problem we have right now. I wish he can just pack his things and leave.
I’m not versed on this subject of making money with football, and I don’t pretend to be.
But even a novice like me has a few ideas.
To make money from our football starts with having good leagues.
Good pitches and stadia makes for attractive football viewing, both live and on TV.
A quality league will attract good talents in and outside the country, which will make for good entertainment.
NFF can then sell the TV rights. The broadcasting companies will make money from subscriptions and corporate advertising on TV, and NFF can get a share from this revenues. This can happen not just in Nigeria, but also outside Nigeria. Imagine the possibilities. HUGE.
NFF can also make money from ticket sales at match venues. International and local companies will also want to advertise at match venues, and NFF can also cash in on that, BIG TIME.
With a good league, we will have strong national teams, and NFF can also generate revenues from FIFA and CAF when we qualify for major competitions and perform well. We will also have strong football clubs, and NFF can also make money when the clubs do well in international competitions.
And then you have funds coming in from the government.
Add all these funds up, and NFF will be sitting on top of some nice gravy, which can be reinvested back into our football, used to hire quality coaches for our national teams, used to pay coaches salaries and players bonuses on time, etc.
I’m sure that the experts on this subject have even more ideas on what can be done.
The key is to get our football leagues (male and female) up and running.
In summary, that is domestic development. The more reason the NFF is interested in continuing with the present managers to develop the local league. I think we need to be patient.
You made a valid point. People like Dangote and other industrialists
could come in to assist the NFF in areas of funds deployment to help develop hiden talents in the country and egually develop our local league for marketability and profit making. Something skin to homegrown economics.
That is sensible.
Aboubakar!!!! “Sallah doesn’t impress me”. Now I see the angle he is coming from. 8 goals? This has never happened in the Afcon before. What if he had reach the final? It would have been 10 then..Lol. And to think this is coming from a Sunday Sunday footballer. While those in the so called tough leagues are struggling with 2 goals 3 goals..
Abeg no matter what dema say, we need Ighalo. And even Ahmed Musa Join for the W/C qualifiers.
*Sallah doesn’t impress me much*
If your are a proven goalscorer, you are a proven goal scorer…!
A sunday sunday league player is the golden boot winner at the 2021 AFCON, taking over from another sunday sunday league player who held the boot since the 2019 AFCON.
If you are proven, you are proven….if you like play in tuesday tuesday league…..LMAOOooo.
Any Nigerian player who wants to play in the national team should go and prove himself in the top leagues where our best players are playing.
Well said Doctor Drey. You are on point sir. Aboubakar was great at the Afcon.