The supporters of the local team were apparently getting impatient because the 37,000-seat arena was taking too long for them to get in due to strict security checks. There was no information about the injured at first.
In the opening match of the three-week soccer tournament, co-hosts aquatorialguinea celebrated a 1:0 (0:0) victory over libya. In the second game of group A, zambia unexpectedly beat senegal 2:1 (2:0).
Emmanuel mayuka (12. Minute) from the young boys bern and rainford kalaba (20.) scored for zambia. Dame ndoye of danish champion FC copenhagen only managed to score the final goal for the co-favorites (74.). For senegal, attacker papiss demba cisse, who had just transferred from SC freiburg to newcastle united, was substituted in the 67th minute. Minute, but could not set any decisive accents more. Former hoffenheim bundesliga player demba ba was in the starting eleven and had several good chances, but failed to score a goal.
In the opening match, former real madrid player javier balboa scored a late goal (87. Minute) the hosts were jubilant in their first ever africa cup participation. "We haven’t trained that much together yet, but still it was enough for success," said coach gilson paulo. The brazilian had taken over the team only a few weeks ago after the resignation of frenchman henri michel. "Despite the victory, we still have a lot of work to do," he said.
Up to 12. February there will be 16 teams fighting at the 28th edition of the competition. Edition of the tournament in gabon and aquatorial guinea for the title. German coach gernot rohr takes gabon to face niger in libreville on monday. Defending champions and record holders egypt are absent, as are world cup hosts sud africa, nigeria and cameroon with top star samuel eto’o.