Sunday in Libreville, Gabon delivered victorious comeback tales aplenty at the Africa Cup of Nations final, as Cameroon pulled ahead of Egypt 2-1 as the final minutes of regulation time drained. To fully appreciate all the emotional drama, we can recap, in a nutshell, all the sweet story lines involved in this feat:
- Though Egypt pulled ahead at first with a goal by Arsenal's Mohamed ElNenny at the 22nd minute, when Nicolas Nkoulou equalized for Cameroon at the 59th, it marked the first time both teams had scored in an AFCON final since 2004.
- The dramatic, 88th-minute game-winner, courtesy of Besiktas' Vincent Aboubakar, made for his first goal in the entire tournament.
- This also made for Cameroon's first AFCON championship since 2002 -- and the country's fifth overall.
- And, of interest to readers of this web site -- the winning squad included one Ambroise Oyongo, of the Montreal Impact!
The 25-year-old left back, in fact, put in a full match, figuring in a young-skewing starting XI and drawing praise from fans on social media, especially for his performance towards the end of the match.
Cameroon will go on to claim a spot in the FIFA Confederations Cup this summer. And no doubt Oyongo will return to training with the Impact, who face D.C. United in a preseason friendly on Feb. 18, with confidence to spare.
Here are a few more views of Oyongo in action.
Photo via Reuters Media Express
Photo via Reuters Media Express
Photo via Reuters Media Express
