Cameroon and Ghana, two of the most successful teams in Africa Cup of Nations history with nine titles between them, cancelled each other out in a forgettable 0-0 draw in their Group F match on Saturday.
Ghana nearly snatched the points in the 88th minute when Kwabena Owusu intercepted a dreadful Jean Armel Kana Biyik pass, charged forward and fired a ferocious shot against the bar.
But that would have been an unfittingly generous end to a match which featured too many misplaced passes, poor first touches and wayward finishing on another searing evening at the Ismailia stadium — while there were some unusual decisions from the referee.
Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah was one of the few players to distinguish himself, making three key interventions to prevent a Cameroon goal.
Holders Cameroon top the group with four points from two games while Ghana have two points after drawing both their matches.
Kasim Nuhu wasted an excellent early chance for Ghana by side-footing over from 12 metres and Christian Atsu fired a low shot narrowly wide but injured his hamstring in the process and was replaced by Samuel Owusu.
It was generally a scrappy opening, summed up by a Christian Bassogog effort where he sent the simplest of short passes straight into touch.
There was also an odd incident where the ball hit the referee and rebounded to Cameroon. The official then stopped play, gave the ball to Ghana and invited them to play on.
He also let a number of strong tackles go unpunished, showing one yellow card for 28 fouls.
Mensah made his first intervention with a timely last-ditch tackle on Karl Toko Ekambi as the Cameroon player got away and was about to pull the trigger. Bassogog also had a good chance but it was palmed away by Richard Ofori.
There was little improvement in the second half although Mensah again came to Ghana’s rescue when he managed to get his head to Collins Fai’s cross and nick it away from the lurking Clinton Njie.
Mensah followed that up by stopping a goalbound Bassogog volley.
There was a flurry of action towards the end including Owusu’s effort against the bar, raising the question as to why the teams did not push forward earlier.
Benin and Guinea Bissau completed a hat-trick of goalless draws at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday with a stalemate that left both teams waiting for their first-ever win at the competition.
After Angola and Mauritania began the day with a 0-0 draw in Group E and Cameroon and Ghana also failed to produce a goal in Group F, Benin and Guinea Bissau rarely looked like breaking the sequence in a scrappy match short of clear chances.
A draw always seemed the logical result in the Group F game given their respective historical records at the finals.
Benin, taking part for the fourth time, have drawn two and lost eight of their previous 10 matches in the competition while Guinea-Bissau, at their second finals, went into the match with a record of three defeats and a draw in four games.
Benin have two points from two games, level with Ghana, while Guinea-Bissau have one and face Ghana in their final game. Cameroon lead the group with four.
Steve Mounie went closest to breaking the deadlock when he sent a header over the bar in the 75th minute.
Jordan Adeoti sent an early effort into the side-netting for Benin and also had the best chance of the first half when he burst down the left but was pushed wide and his shot was saved by Jonas Mendes.
Piqueti and Pele were lively for Guinea Bissau, who have half their squad based in Portugal, and Sori Mane had their best effort when he won the ball, galloped forward but saw his shot deflected over.