Cameroon became the latest big name to come unstuck at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola when they were beaten 1-0 by a brave Gabon in Lubango on Wednesday night.
The Group D encounter provided yet another shock in this competition and more misery for the sides that have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Algeria and Nigeria have both suffered defeats in their first matches, and Côte d'Ivoire achieved only a poor draw. Ghana have yet to play.
In Lubango, the Indomitable Lions dominated possession but, unusually for them, lacked a cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. They had beaten Gabon twice in the space of four days in the qualifiers, but both of those wins were hard-fought and the Gabonese managed to eke out their revenge in the finals.
Early on, Cameroon were a whisker away from the lead when Achille Emana fired a shot across goal and Gabon stopper Didier Ovono got a hand to it, deflecting the ball onto the post.
But the Gabonese took a surprise lead on 17 minutes through some poor Cameroon defending. Nicolas Nkoulou needed to be strong in the tackle on the edge of the area, but instead the ball got away from him and through to Gabonese striker Daniel Cousin, who suddenly found himself one-on-one with Carlos Kameni.
The Hull City man kept his composure to slot the ball home and give his side the lead.
Achille Webo forced a good save out of Ovono as he fired off a low left-footed shot that the keeper was able to beat away.
After that the first half settled into a familiar pattern. Cameroon pushed forward with purpose, but came up against opponents who were happy to put eleven men behind the ball and try and hit the Indomitable Lions on the break.
Bar one scintillating run, there was little to be seen of Cameroon's star man, Samuel Eto'o, as Gabon closed down the space on the edge of their area.
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Cameroon had a good chance to equalise five minutes after half-time when substitute Somen Tchoyi got in behind the Gabon defence, but he scuffed his shot and it was an easy save for Ovono.
Emana lashed in a long-range shot that flashed just wide of goal, while Ovono then did brilliantly to beat away a header from Webo as Cameroon edged closer to the equaliser.
Smart thinking from Eto'o saw the Inter Milan star take a quick free kick and put Webo through on goal, but the striker skewed his effort horribly wide with just Ovono to beat.
Emana forced another excellent save from Ovono as he volleyed goalwards at the back post, while the keeper was fortunate when he inexplicably dropped a Cameroon corner but escaped the consequences when none of the attackers in the vicinity could take advantage.
The Gabon goalkeeper made another excellent save as he palmed over from Geremi's free-kick, while at the other end, young Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw his powerful drive crash off the crossbar in the final chance of the game.
Cameroon will have an opportunity to get their campaign back on track when they play Zambia on Sunday, while Gabon can keep their good run going when they face Tunisia on the same day.
