Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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At a pedestrian pace

Group A

Former Cameroon captain Roger Milla believes the side can make the final. Current coach Pierre Lechantre was more conservative and reckoned his squad will head its opening round group at the expense of co-host Ghana.

Cameroon have undergone something of a renaissance after a decade of under-achievement in the tournament.

Milla, who helped Cameroon to victory in 1984 and 1988, said the current side had all the qualities of the generation of players who triumphed twice and also reached the World Cup finals in 1982 and 1990.

"It's been refreshing to see a Cameroon team play to its full potential at the Nations Cup for the first time in a long while," he said. "We can go all the way to the final."

Coach Lechantre was more reserved about his side's potential but said he was pleased with their enthusiasm, spirit and attitude. "We have played some good quality football and if we continue what we are doing we'll be hard to beat," Lechantre said. "We have created a lot of scoring chances and have been very strong in winning the ball in midfield. We should go on to win this group."

Raymond Kalla and teenager Samuel Eto'o scored first-half goals as Cameroon outclassed Cote d'Ivoire 3-0 to lead Ghana on goal difference. Cameroon took its lead after half an hour. Patrick Mboma's header was kept out by veteran goalkeeper Alain Gouamene, but Kalla was first to the loose ball.

In first-half injury time, Real Madrid's Eto'o rounded off a passing move with a finish to give the Indomitable Lions a 2-0 lead. With Kalla and Rigobert Song marshalling its defence, Cameroon had few problems holding on to its lead, and in the final seconds a blistering shot from Mboma completed the misery for The Elephants.

The Indomitable Lions, who haven't won the African Nations Cup since 1988, join Ghana on four points in the group, with Cote d'Ivoire and Togo on one point each.

Ghana got its cup bid off the ground with a convincing 2-0 win against neighbour and group outsider Togo. Kwame Ayew and Addo Otto calmed Ghanaian nerves with first-half goals as the Black Stars avenged a shock 1-0 loss to the Togolese at the 1998 African Nations Cup.

Ghana played the last 25 minutes with 10 men after defender Eben Dugbartey was sent off for receiving two yellow cards, but was never seriously threatened.

Egypt's Hassan, trying to escape Senegal's player's tight defense to score Egypt's sole goal in the match (photo: AFP)

Togo's preparations lived up to the often chaotic tradition of the cup. On the morning of the match, its eccentric coach Guttlieb Goeller threatened to make the game his last because of a row with the country's soccer federation. It wasn't clear whether Goeller's warning, made to bemused guests in the lobby of the team hotel, was genuine but the German failed to appear on the bench during the match.

Guests at the team hotel reported that Goeller was heard arguing with Togolese soccer officials over money, and hotel management confirmed that he had checked out on the afternoon of the match.

In sweltering conditions, Togo began to live up to its outsider tag in the 27th minute when goalkeeper Kossi Agassa fumbled a long-range Ayew shot into the net. Ghana's fans had to wait less than 10 minutes to celebrate a second goal as Addo Otto rounded Agassa to score.

Having drawn their opening matches, both teams knew that defeat would mean likely elimination, although it was the co-host that had come under massive pressure from its demanding fans after a fortunate 1-1 draw against Cameroon.

Guisseppe Dossea's team, visited hours before the match by Ghana's Vice President John Mills, began nervously but with Togo looking increasingly ragged, it wasted several opportunities to add to its lead.

Group B

Shaun Bartlett scored his third goal of the tournament to secure South Africa a place in the quarter-finals. Bartlett became the tournament's leading marksman and the 1-0 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo gave his country a second success in the group. It heads the pool with a maximum six points, leaving DR Congo, Algeria and Gabon to fight for the other qualifying berth.

Bartlett displayed some individual brilliance when he saw off a defender and then lobbed the ball past goalkeeper Mkueni Mayala at the end of the first half. The goal came at the end of a period dominated by South Africa.

Algeria went into contention for a quarter-final berth, taking advantage of a 10-man Gabon to win 3-1. The victory lifted Algeria to second in the group behind South Africa. Gabon became the first team eliminated from the 16-team competition.

A bad goalkeeping error set the Algerians on their way, with Farid Ghazi catching Germain Mendome off his line and scoring from a tight angle in the 12th minute. Gabon, which lost its opening match 3-1 to South Africa, then had defender Eric Endo sent off in the 26th minute for a wild kick at Algerian midfielder Billel Dziri.

Algerian striker Abdel-Hafid Tasfaout added a second goal in the 41st minute with a screaming shot after being fed by teammate Nasreddine Kraouche. Mendome made up for his first-half error with some fine saves in the second half to deny Algeria further chances. In injury time, substitute Bruno Mbanangoye scored a consolation for Gabon with a header from close range but Algeria replied straight from the kick-off with Dziri hitting home a brilliant left-foot effort.

Group C

Egypt booked their tickets to the quarter-finals early and advanced with a 1-0 win over Senegal thanks to the predatory skills of captain Hossam Hassan.

It was the second successive win for the defending African champions and ensured they would finish in the top two in the standings. But Senegal made an official protest to referee Petrros Mathabela, claiming two balls had been on the pitch at the time of the goal and that an assistant referee had his flag up to indicate that the second ball had been rolled into play. The protest held up play for two minutes but is not expected to alter the scoreline.

Veteran Hassan, who was the joint leading goalscorer at the last Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso, scored the only goal six minutes before half-time with a brave, diving header on the end of a cross from Mohamed Omara. It was the second goal of the tournament for the 33-year-old Hassan, the most capped African footballer of all time.

Egypt dominated throughout the first half and might have been two up at the break had it not been for a spectacular save by Oumar Diallo from Yasser Radwan's long-range shot.

Senegal, who beat Burkina Faso in their opening game, had several second-half chances but were let down by poor finishing. Egypt's goalkeeper Nader El-Sayed, who conceded just one goal in six matches at the 1998 finals, made two important saves in the last five minutes to keep the scoreline intact while Henri Camara hit the side netting with a close-range shot in the last minute.

Alasane Ouedraogo scrambled to score an injury-time equaliser, earning Burkina Faso a 1-1 draw with Zambia to preserve its faint quarter-final hopes. Denis Lota gave Zambia a 14th-minute lead with an overhead kick from close range. But Ben Bamfuchile's team couldn't hold the lead after defender Elijah Litana was sent off for a late tackle on Ouedraogo with 15 minutes remaining in an entertaining match. Zambia, which has twice reached the final of the cup but never been crowned champion, played with more craft before being reduced to 10 men.

The victory assured Egypt of joining South Africa in the single-elimination or knockout phase. Senegal has three points while Burkina Faso and Zambia have a point each.

Group D

Because of the high calibre of the teams -- co-host Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia -- observers in pre-tournament assessments had dubbed this group the "Group of Death." In a way, the prediction has come true but for the wrong reasons. The games played thus far have certainly been lifeless. Only lowly Republic of Congo, a veritable minnow among giants, managed to breathe some life into the group, narrowly losing to Morocco and, in perhaps the upset of the tournament, drawing with Nigeria.

Morocco edged closer to the quarter-finals after a drab goalless draw with Tunisia but lost two key players in the process. The result put Morocco within one point of a place in the last eight while Tunisia, who lost their opening game, now have only a remote chance of progressing past the first round.

A caution for Morocco's veteran captain Noureddine Naybet means he will miss their next match in the group against Nigeria. It was a second yellow card in as many matches for Naybet and means an automatic one-match suspension.

Midfielder Youssef Chippo was taken off with a hip injury after just 11 minutes in another potential blow to Morocco's hopes of beating co-host Nigeria to secure top spot in the group.

Favourite Nigeria was also held to a goalless draw by underdog Congo after producing an apathetic performance. The Super Eagles, whose team includes big-name players such as Nwankwo Kanu, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh and Taribo West, were comfortably contained by a team made up largely of players based with lower division clubs in France and Germany. The unheralded Red Devils created the better chances and could have won if they had had more composure in the last 30 metres of the pitch.

The Nigerians, who hung their heads in shame as they left the pitch while angry fans threw bottles on to the field, played at a pedestrian pace and still seemed to have their minds on a row over bonuses that blew up during the week. Police used teargas to drive irate Nigerian fans from their team's dressing room after the match. Players, including Kanu, Oliseh and George, were locked inside the changing room for their own safety.

The result left them far from sure of a quarter-final place, especially as they face Morocco in their final group game. Nigeria and Morocco have four points from two games; Congo and Tunisia have one apiece.

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