Guinea striker Mohamed Bayo dedicated his Man of the Match award to her mother after helping his side secure a 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations opening draw against Cameroon on Monday.
Bayo scored Guinea’s only goal of the game at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium. Guinea captain Francois Kamano was then shown the marching orders after a clumsy foul on Cameroonian midfielder Olivier Ntcham inside the added-on time in the first half and the Indomitable Lions took advantage of the numerical disadvantage of the Guineans in the second half and got the equalizer six minutes into the second half following Frank Magri’s show of superb aerial ability to pounce onto a free kick.
“I am happy to have been crowned, I dedicate this award to my mother especially because she often supports me in difficult times,” he said. Despite the draw, the 25-year-old striker expressed his satisfaction with the performance they put up. “I think we played a good game.”
He continued: “I’m a striker and I’m supposed to score goals to help my country. We regret that one of the players was sent off with a red card, and despite that, we played well.”