{"id":41819,"date":"2024-01-14T17:30:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T17:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=41819"},"modified":"2024-01-14T16:37:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-14T16:37:53","slug":"fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener","title":{"rendered":"Fofana sets hosts Ivory Coast on way to win Cup of Nations opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Seko Fofana’s stunning early goal set hosts Ivory Coast on the way to a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau before a euphoric crowd as the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off on Saturday.<\/b><\/p>\n

Saudi-based Fofana scored inside four minutes at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, on the northern outskirts of Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan.<\/p>\n

It was a goal worthy of winning almost any game but it was followed by Jean-Philippe Krasso’s second-half strike as the Elephants claimed all three points in the Group A encounter.<\/p>\n

They were by far the better team, albeit against one of the tournament’s minnows, as they look to make the most of home advantage to win a third AFCON crown.<\/p>\n

One source of disappointment for the hosts is that just 36,858 fans attended the game inside a 60,000-seat stadium, with tickets being sold for between 5,000 and 15,000 CFA francs ($8-25).<\/p>\n

Those fans who were there were treated to a raucous opening ceremony, a riot of colour and noise which featured a rendition of the tournament’s official song by popular Ivorian group Magic System.<\/p>\n

There were also speeches by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, African football boss Patrice Motsepe, and Ivory Coast’s veteran President Alassane Ouattara, who proudly declared his country “a land of football”.<\/p>\n

They are aiming to become the first host nation to lift the trophy since Egypt beat Ivory Coast on penalties in the final in 2006.<\/p>\n

That Elephants team featured the legendary Didier Drogba, who was also in attendance in Abidjan.<\/p>\n

The hosts have not lost the opening match of the AFCON since Burkina Faso in 1998 and there appeared little prospect of that happening here once Fofana had struck.<\/p>\n

The game started several minutes later than the planned 2000 GMT kick-off following the litany of speeches, but Ivory Coast wasted little time against a Guinea-Bissau side appearing at their fourth AFCON and who have still never won a match at the tournament.<\/p>\n

Fofana received a pass from Franck Kessie, his fellow midfielder who also left Europe for Saudi Arabia ahead of this season, before teeing himself up for a magnificent strike high into the top-right corner.<\/p>\n

Ivorian coach Jean-Louis Gasset, the veteran Frenchman, named a team featuring five players based in Europe’s big five leagues and three who play in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

However, star striker Sebastien Haller of Borussia Dortmund was absent as he recovers from injury, so the attack was led by Krasso of Red Star Belgrade.<\/p>\n

The main goal threat in the first half came from Fofana, tireless in the tropical heat and humidity and who crashed another right-foot shot off the bar from a Kessie cutback after 34 minutes.<\/p>\n

Guinea-Bissau, Africa’s 21st-ranked team but who defeated Nigeria in qualifying, were still in the game at 1-0 but created little and conceded again just before the hour mark.<\/p>\n

German-born striker Krasso showcased Ivory Coast’s attacking strength in depth as he controlled a ball in the box at an awkward height with his back to goal, took another touch and then volleyed low into the net to effectively end the contest.<\/p>\n

Three-time former champions Nigeria complete Group A along with Equatorial Guinea, and they meet at Ebimpe on Sunday ahead of the opening games in Group B between Egypt and Mozambique, and Ghana and Cape Verde.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Seko Fofana’s stunning early goal set hosts Ivory Coast on the way to a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau before a euphoric crowd as the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off on Saturday. Saudi-based Fofana scored inside four minutes at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium, on the northern outskirts of Ivory Coast’s economic capital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":41818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-41819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nFofana sets hosts Ivory Coast on way to win Cup of Nations opener - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seko Fofana's stunning early goal set hosts Ivory Coast on the way to a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau before a euphoric ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fofana sets hosts Ivory Coast on way to win Cup of Nations opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seko Fofana's stunning early goal set hosts Ivory Coast on the way to a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau before a euphoric ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-14T17:30:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/01\/sm_1705237625.855697.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Fofana sets hosts Ivory Coast on way to win Cup of Nations opener\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-14T17:30:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\"},\"wordCount\":572,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2024\/01\/sm_1705237625.855697.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/fofana-sets-hosts-ivory-coast-on-way-to-win-cup-of-nations-opener\",\"name\":\"Fofana sets hosts Ivory Coast on way to win Cup of Nations opener - 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