TANGIER, Morocco — Nicolas Jackson scored twice as Senegal started its Africa Cup of Nations title bid with a 3-0 win over Botswana on Tuesday.
Substitute Cherif Ndiaye completed the scoring after Botswana goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko had prevented worse for the Zebras, who lined up with five at the back and were pinned back for most of the game.
Senegal, winner of the 2021 edition and one of the favorites again, should have scored more against a team ranked 138th in the world, all while the team's colorfully dressed fans danced to the beat of their drums.
The supporters had taken their positions long before kickoff and never stopped, not even as organizers blared pop tunes and advertisements in the otherwise mostly empty stadium.
The official attendance in the 68,000-capacity Grand Stade de Tanger, which looks like a donut from the outside, was just over 18,500. Heavy rainfall likely kept neutral fans away. It kept pouring on the third day of what is shaping up to be the wettest and coldest Africa Cup to date. The tournament was initially scheduled for the summer, but it was pushed back to avoid clashing with FIFA's new Club World Cup competition.
Jackson, who has had limited opportunities at Bayern Munich since his switch from Chelsea, missed a host of chances. The first came early with Phoko getting the better of their one-on-one, before Pape Gueye fired over, and Phoko made another great save to deny Sadio Mané.
Many more chances were missed before Jackson finally broke the deadlock in the 40th with a simple finish to Ismail Jakobs' fast cross.
Botswana initially showed more attacking ambition after the break, but that yielded more counterattacking opportunities for the Teranga Lions, who quickly resumed their earlier dominance.
