Ivory Coast's Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso scored in each half as the hosts completed a 2-0 Group A victory over Guinea-Bissau in the opening match of the African Cup of Nations played amid humidity that It drained the energy on Saturday.
Fofana gave his team the lead in the fourth minute with a superb shot from the edge of the area before Krasso made up for an earlier miss when he acrobatically scored a second just before the hour mark.
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The Ivorians were always favorites against a Guinea-Bissau team who have not won any of their final 10 Nations Cup matches, but the hosts, with several players absent through injury, will be happy to have started their campaign on a positive note . from an expectant crowd of 60,000 people.
Two-time winners Ivory Coast will play on Thursday when they take on Nigeria in the group's biggest showdown, while Guinea-Bissau takes on Equatorial Guinea on the same day. The matches will be played again at the Alassane Ouattara stadium in Abidjan.
