Hosts Gabon leave Africa Cup of Nations unbeaten but unmourned by fans

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José Antonio Camacho had hoped his side could unite the politically-divided nation but their joyless and unimaginative football did not excite the fansAs boos rang around the rapidly emptying Stade de l’Amitié, Gabon’s left-winger Denis Bouanga wept. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, after another underwhelming display, walked straight off the pitch, head bowed, shoulders defensively hunched. A goalless draw against Cameroon put Gabon out of the Africa Cup of Nations and made them only the fourth hosts in 31 tournaments and the first since Tunisia in 1994 to fail to make it out of the group stage.
They had their chances, packed into two brief spells at either end of the game. For five minutes. Gabon ripped into Cameroon. Bouanga was lively and brought a backpedaling stretching save from Fabrice Ondoa with an opportunist free-kick. But it was Aubameyang who had the best opportunity. When Bouanga crossed low from the left in the fourth minute, it seemed impossible he should not touch in his third goal of the tournament. Four yards out, with an open net, he slid his shot wide. Five years ago, it was at the same end of the same ground that he missed a penalty in the quarter-final shootout as Gabon lost to Mali; this miss you suspect, will haunt him for longer.
Related: Hosts Gabon crash out of Africa Cup of Nations after Cameroon draw
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