Cote d'Ivoire, Togo play out scoreless draw in poor game

The Africa Cup of Nations' defending champion failed to inspire in its opening fixture at the tournament.

On Monday, at Stade d'Oyem, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo played out a scoreless draw in which both Les Elephants and Les Eperviers were overly cautious and intent on avoiding defeat. Making matters worse was a substandard pitch that did no favours for the national teams as they tried to find some fluency.

Cote d'Ivoire, king of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, produced its best chance near the end of the match, as Serge Aurier was left unmarked but headed a cross from Max Gradel just wide. Togo, meanwhile, came close to scoring in the first half when Mathieu Dossevi was sent through on goal, forcing Sylvain Gbohouo to speed off his line and make a phenomenal save.

That was the extent of the excitement at Stade d'Oyem, which was empty for the game as the tournament is being boycotted by supporters of Jean Ping, the rival of Ali Bongo, Gabon's incumbent president who was controversially declared as the victor of an election in August of last year.