Cameroon survived a scare and a wonder goal from tournament debutant Guinea-Bissau for the first win in Group A of the African Nations Cup on Wednesday.
Cameroon came from behind to win 2-1, but for 48 minutes Guinea-Bissau was ahead and heading for a special victory after midfielder Piqueti made a run of blistering speed and skill to take the ball nearly the length of the field before lashing it into the roof of the net.
Cameroon spoiled what was shaping up to be one of the great upsets of the tournament in the second half when Sebastien Siani hit a first-time shot into the bottom left corner and defender Michael Ngadeu hammered low into the other corner for the winner.
That left Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Jonas hunched over the advertising boards behind his goal in disappointment, thinking of what might have been for a team made up mostly of players from Portugal's second division and which had never been to a major tournament before. For a while, they were beating the four-time African champions and former World Cup quarterfinalists, and were top of their group.
Host Gabon were frustrated again and their hopes of progressing took another blow after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second goal in two games only scraped a 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso.
Aubameyang won and converted a penalty in the 38th minute after Burkina Faso led with substitute Prejuce Nakoulma's breakaway goal in the 23rd.
But Gabon couldn't go on to win despite having the better chances in the second half and the home team's chances of making the quarterfinals, and in many ways the chances of a successful tournament, now hang on its last group game against Cameroon.