Group D: Status Quo After Opening Matches — Guinea Ready to Challenge Cameroon
After Matchday 1 in Group D of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, the standings remain balanced with both fixtures ending in 1-1 draws: Ivory Coast and Guinea, Cameroon and Mali. Guinea, often seen as the underdogs of the group, showed great spirit in nearly upsetting Ivory Coast in their opener.
Midfielder Ibrahima Traoré spoke confidently ahead of Guinea’s next game against Cameroon:
“We are not afraid. We are aware that no one will bet a cent on us, but we are not afraid of any opponent,” he told FIFA.com.
While Guinea’s squad may lack the dynamism of some rivals, it does boast talented players like Traoré himself (Borussia Mönchengladbach), defender Florentin Pogba (St Etienne), and forward Mohamed Yattara (Lyon). Crucially, Seydouba Soumah, Guinea’s top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals, returns for the match against Cameroon.
Traoré added:
“We have nothing to lose, so we just play our game. That’s what we intend to do in our next outing against Cameroon.”
Guinea aims to build on their solid start and cause more surprises in Group D as the competition progresses.
