Gabon top Cameroon

LUBANGO, Angola (AP):

World Cup qualifiers are still without a win at the African Cup of Nations after Gabon beat Cameroon 1-0 yesterday. Zambia held Tunisia to 1-1 in Group D's other game.

Striker Daniel Cousin made the most of a defensive blunder by Rigobert Song to net in the 17th minute for Gabon.

The opening group matches left Gabon with an early lead on three points, two more than Zambia and Tunisia. Cameroon had none.

Cameroon's loss followed earlier defeats by World Cup-bound Algeria and Nigeria.

Ivory Coast opened by drawing with Burkina Faso 0-0 and play fellow qualifier Ghana tomorrow.

Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o said his team wasn't done yet.

"It's not a big problem," Eto'o said. "We have to win our next game. We controlled the game but we didn't score."

Cousin's timing and positioning was perfect. Song, making a record eighth African Cup appearance, stumbled at a Roguy Meye through-ball and defensive partner Nicolas Nkoulou made a costly miss, giving unspotted Cousin enough space to stab a low shot past Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.

"We are very pleased we got a win in the first game," said Gabon coach Alain Giresse, who came out on top against French countryman Paul Le Guen. "The system worked well. Technically we were very good."