Bertrand Traore scored a stoppage time penalty as Burkina Faso claimed a 1-0 victory over Mauritania in their Africa Cup of Nations Group D clash at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Tuesday, writing a piece of history in the process.
It is the first ever win for the Burkinabe in their opening match of the Africa showpiece finals and came at the 13th attempt, handed to them when Aston Villa midfielder Traore stroked home his spot-kick after a foul by Mauritania captain Mohamed El Abd on Issa Kabore.
Burkina Faso dominated possession, but it was Mauritania who carved out the better chances, though they were denied by the excellent reflexes of goalkeeper Herve Koffi and will feel aggrieved not to have got something from the game having conceded in the 96th minute.
Burkina Faso head the pool with their three points after the first round of matches. Fancied Algeria were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Angola on Monday.
Namibia winger Deon Hotto scored in the 88th minute to hand them a shock 1-0 victory over Tunisia and keep up the sequence of surprise results that have dominated the opening days of the tournament in the Ivory Coast.
Hotto sneaked in at the back post to hand the southern African country, 87 places below Tunisia in the world rankings, a deserved win as they were markedly more enterprising and created the better chances in the opening Group E encounter at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium.
Namibia, competing in their fourth finals but who had never tasted a Cup of Nations finals victory previously, should have won by a more handsome margin but were let down by poor decision making.
In the day's late kick-off in Korhogo, Mali accounted for South Africa on a 2-0 scoreline to edge out Namibia for top spot in Group E.
South Africa had the better of the opening period but paid a heavy price for a penalty miss from former Brighton forward Percy Tau.
Following a relatively uneventful start to the match, the 1996 champions were handed a golden chance to edge ahead after Evidence Makgopa was caught in the face by the elbow of Sikou Niakate inside Mali's box.
Egyptian referee Mohamed Edel pointed to the spot following VAR intervention, only for Tau to wastefully fire his 19th-minute effort high over the crossbar.
Mali were far better after the restart and grabbed the lead with half an hour remaining.
Sekou Koita's curling left-footed free-kick from the edge of the box was kept out by a combination of South Africa keeper Ronwen Williams and the bar but fell kindly for captain Hamari Traore to poke home from close range.
Striker Lassine Sinayoko put the result beyond doubt only six minutes later, latching onto Kamory Doumbia's through ball and jabbing a shot beyond Bafana Bafana captain Williams.
