The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations dished up a pulsating opening day with co-hosts Equatorial Guinea bagging their $1 million bonus and star-studded Senegal falling to Zambia. Saturday's double header from Bata was kicked off by Equatorial Guinea, sharing the hosting honours with neighbours Gabon, against Libya.
The Group A game was heading for a goalless stalemate until former Real Madrid Javier Balboa broke the deadlock with three minutes on the clock to send the home fans wild.
Balboa, a Real player under Fabio Capello seven years ago but now in Portugal, raced down the middle to clinically finish a superb Daniel Ekedo pass with a shot over the goalkeeper.
Equatorial Guinea, making their debut, not only gave themselves a fantastic chance of making it to the quarter-finals with this 1-0 win but in the process swelled their bank accounts after picking up the $1 million bonus offered by a son of the country's president. "We played a good match. We hadn't trained a lot together but nevertheless we still won," said Equatorial Guinea's Brazilian coach Gilson Paulao.
"The team made the most of the tactics. But despite the win, we were still short in some areas and we have to work on that." This was a sad start for Libya, who risked their lives travelling from Tripoli to Tunisia to prepare to qualify as civil war raged in the north African country.
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