LUCKLESS ZAMBIA BEATEN BY CAMEROON
Cameroon gave yet another display of the trademark grit and
determination which has taken them to the top of the African game in
coming from behind to beat COSAFA hopefuls Zambia 3-2 at the African Nations Cup on Sunday.
The victory handed the Indomitable Lions their first points of the
tournament and puts them now back on track to reach a seventh
successive quarter-final at the continental championships.
They had trailed in the Group D game in Lubango for exactly one hour
and were staring elimination from the competition starkly in the face.
But their pressure play caused the necessary panic in the Zambian
defence and after being one-goal down, Cameroon were suddenly 2-1
ahead, striking twice in the space of four minutes just after the
midway mark of the second half.
There was further evidence of their will to win when they gave away a
late penalty to allow Zambia back to 2-2 but still claimed the win
when substitute Mohamadou Idrissou scored with a towering header just
four minutes from the end.
The five goal thriller was the perfect antidote to the tedium of the
goalless draw between Gabon and Tunisia that had preceded, with the
drama starting as early as the eighth minute.
A mistake by Geremi Fotso Njitap saw him dispossessed by Zambia’s
Felix Katongo, who made a surging run down the wing before delivering
a square ball that Cameroon’s veteran defender Rigobert Song
mistakenly headed towards his own goal in a botched bid to clear. It
produced a fine save from goalkeeper Idriss Carlos Kameni but Jacob
Mulenga snapped up the rebound for an easy tap-in.
Zambia led until the 68th minute when goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, who
up until then had made some fine saves, inexplicably allowed Geremi’s
cross to slip under his body and trickle over the line for the
equaliser.
Just when Zambia looked on their way to an upset win – and a measure
of revenge for the 5-1 pasting they received from Cameroon at the last
Nations Cup in Ghana – it suddenly turned sour.
Another cross four minutes later, this time from Somen Tchoyi, was
cleared by defender Stoppira Nsuzu against the body of Samuel Eto’o
and with his predatory instincts, the three time African Footballer of
the Year was quickest to snap up the loose ball and fired it home.
It marked his 17th goal at the Nations Cup finals, further extending
his all-time record.
Song, who was extending his record of successive appearances at the
Nations Cup to 35 games, was then caught for pace by Mulenga in the
80th minute, exposing Kameni to lunging clumsily into a tackle that
saw the Saudi Arabian referee award a penalty kick.
Chris Katongo converted to make it 2-2.
But Cameroon were not finished and within five minutes Geremi’s cross
found the head of Idrissou who powered it wide of Mweene into the net
for the winner.
Cameroon could yet finish top of the group if they beat Tunisia in
Lubango on Tuesday while Zambia might yet still make the quarter-
finals if they can beat Gabon at the same time when they play in
Benguela.
It is yet another group to be decided on a potentially dramatic final
day.