Guinea Bissau centre back Juary grabbed a last-gasp equaliser to continue their fairytale African Nations Cup campaign as they held hosts Gabon to a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the tournament on Saturday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked to have delivered a winning start for a nervy-looking home team with the opener after 53 minutes but Gabon got caught on the stroke of full time from a set piece as Juary scored with a flying header.
Guinea Bissau were shock qualifiers and had been given little chance at the finals but they proved gutsy contenders despite looking tired in the closing stages as they kept pushing forward against their much vaunted opponents.
Cameroon meet Burkina Faso in the second Group A game at Stade l'Amitie later on Saturday.
Guinea Bissau's build-up was interrupted at the weekend when players went on strike over unpaid bonuses that had been promised them for qualifying.
It was only settled after a delegation of three players went to see the country's president, Jose Mario Vaz, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported.
They have since all been paid between 10,000 and 23,000 euros in outstanding fees, Lusa added.
They were a Leicester-like long shot when the qualifiers began, having only previously won four matches in Nations Cup and World Cup qualification combined since first entering international competition just 22 years ago.
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