Whoever beats Cameroon in this tournament will have a good chance to lift the trophy. The Africa Cup of Nations finished top of the standings with a 1-1 draw with Cape Verde at Stade d’Olembe in Yaounde.Like a real captain should, Vincent Aboubakar’s done his bit to drive his team to success. The Porto striker scored for Cameroon as the AFCON hosts secured the top spot in Group A.Cameroon Captain, Vincent Aboubakar has become the first player to score in all African Cup of Nations the group matches since Samuel Eto’o in 2008. #ShowmaxPro pic.twitter.com/mJ98ZEl7BK— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) January 17, 2022 After two initial wins, Cameroon didn’t need to rush forward in their game with Cape Verde as even a point would have guaranteed them a first-place finish. It was Cape Verde who needed to win and Burkina Faso not to triumph against Ethiopia to qualify directly for the last 16.The Indomitable Lions’ leader had come close on a couple of occasions in a game thoroughly dominated by the host nation when he finally broke the deadlock five minutes before the break. The skipper got his fifth goal of the tournament with a crisp shot from the edge of the area.Tuesday, 19.00: (7.25) Zimbabwe (3.50) Guinea (1.65)Cape Verde coach Leitao Brito needed to change something and his move would soon prove to be an inspired one. He withdraw Lisandro Semedo and replaced him with Garry Rodrigues at the break. The Olympiacos midfielder came on to try and provide some sort of balance in the middle of the park, but his contribution was much more telling. The 31-year-old had been on the field less than ten minutes when he steered a Santos Rocha’s clever cut-back right for the substitute to steer home. And, boy, did he steer it. Rodrigues applied the sweetest backheel to it and left Andre Onana rooted to the spot – the Blue Sharks were level.
Toni Conceicao sent Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Clinton N’Jie in a bid to restore the lead, but it was Aboubakar who’s had the best chance in the remaining minutes with a shot from the centre of the area that flew over the bar when Vincent really should have grabbed his sixth of the tournament.Cape Verde tried to get the win but didn’t come near to scoring again against mostly comfortable-looking hosts. In the end, Cameroon and Burkina Faso qualify for the knockout stage with Cape Verde keeping their fingers crossed with a third-place finish. Ethiopia finish bottom of Group A.AFRICA CUP OF NATIONSGroup AMondayBurkina Faso – Ethiopia 1-1 (1-0)/Bayala 24 – Kebede 51 pen/Cape Verde – Cameroon 1-1 (0-1)/Rodrigues 53 – Aboubakar 39/