The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 started in Abidjan with fanfare and the hosts Ivory Coast opened the doors with a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau.
Results went south thereafter, with many less-fancied nations adopting the viral 2024 social media slogan “no gree for anybody”.
Equatorial Guinea was first to align, denying Nigeria- originators of the slogan- victory in a 1-1 draw before Egypt worked overtime to salvage a point against Mozambique.
The Pharaohs, fourth-ranked football nation in Africa, needed a penalty awarded after fulltime against the 34th-ranked African country who are 73 places below. Things got more interesting when perennial underachievers Ghana saw their star dimmed by tricky Cape Verde who won 2-1 thanks to comical defending.
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AFCON champions Senegal briefly restored the order but Cameroon and Algeria failed to win while Namibia delivered arguably the biggest shock so far with a 1-0 win over Tunisia.
Mali and Morocco restored sanity for the big teams with wins but South Africa was a victim, missing a penalty before succumbing to The Eagles of Mali.
The second round of group matches will be a feisty one with big nation set to not “gree” for each other, starting with the hosts against Nigeria in a western derby. Egypt can prematurely end Ghana’s campaign, and Mali can do same to Tunisia while Rigobert Song’s Cameroon side is expected to not “gree” for the Sadio Mane-led Senegal in the fight between two lions.
Staying with Cameroon, Coach Song, a veteran of eight AFCON tournaments did not “gree” for Andre Onana, Manchester United goalkeeper who flew into camp hours before their first game.
The former Inter keeper who has conceded 48 goals in just five months at Manchester United expected the coach to hand him the starting berth just 24 hours after conceding two more goals o Tottenham in the EPL.
It is hoped that Coach Song will not “gree” for the pompous 27-year-old who allegedly got angry and used choice words on his coach.
The reach of the “no gree for anybody” trend is raging on at the continental level and long may the chaos continue for more drama to be served in Ivory Coast!
