Togo's defender Djene (R) challenges Ivory Coast's forward Wilfred Zaha during the Africa Cup of Nations'17 group C match between Ivory Coast and Togo in Oyem on Tuesday. -AFP
Defending champions the Ivory Coast and Morocco on Monday became just the latest strongly fancied teams to fail to deliver at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. Ivory Coast made a disappointing start to their Africa Cup of Nations title defense Monday when held 0-0 by lowest Group C seeds Togo in Gabonese town Oyem. Paris Saint-Germain defender Serge Aurier came close to breaking the deadlock with two minutes remaining, heading a cross narrowly wide. The result maintained a trend of stalemates in the 2017 tournament, which kicked off two days ago, with four of the first five matches failing to produce a winner.
Morocco, also considered potential champions under twice Africa Cup-winning coach Herve Renard, paid for a goalkeeping blunder as they fell 1-0 to the Democratic Republic of Congo. DR Congo, whose last of two Cup of Nations triumphs came 43 years ago, surprisingly top Group C after the first round with three points. Ivory Coast and Togo have one point each and Morocco, whose lone Africa Cup success was in 1976, are pointless at the bottom. Group winners and runners-up after a three-round mini league advance to the quarter-finals, leaving Renard with just two games to perform a salvage operation. Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso came from behind to gain unexpected draws with Gabon and Cameroon respectively in Group A on the opening day. Zimbabwe, considered a lightweight among the 16 teams at the tournament. - AFP, Gabon
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