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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The pride of Africa
It seemed like a World Cup final, so high was the calibre of play. In the event, the final of the African Cup of Nations (ACN) was the closest thing to being pitch perfect as Cameroon lifted the continent's most coveted trophy for a third time. The west Africans defeated co-hosts Nigeria 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw following extra time.Cameroon captain Rigobert Song converted the last of the five mandatory spot kicks to give his team an unexpected success after Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Ikpeba missed for Nigeria. Television replays suggested that the shot from Ikpeba crossed the line after hitting the underside of the crossbar, but Tunisian referee Mourad Daami did not hesitate when making his decision that the ball failed to cross the line.
African Footballer of the Year Kanu was inconsolable after seeing his weak attempt pushed away by ecstatic Boukar Alioum, lifting his shirt to wipe tears from his eyes.
Patrick Mboma, Pierre Wome and Jeremi Njitap were on target for Cameroon, the 1984 and 1988 champions, and Marc Vivien-Foe shot tamely wide while Augustine 'Jay Jay' Okocha, Godwin Okpara and Sunday Oliseh scored for Nigeria.
Nigeria started as favourites on a ground where they last lost 19 years ago and confident in the knowledge that nine of the previous 11 hosts who reached the final lifted the trophy. However, the 80,000-strong crowd which crammed into Surulere Stadium had little to cheer in the opening stages as the Indomitable Lions settled quickly in their attempt to complete a hat-trick of final victories over their opponents. In fact, Cameroon appeared to have wrapped things up when they moved two goals ahead midway through the first half. The match started with both teams unable to launch any serious attacks. From the outset, referee Daami was a busy man, showing yellow cards to Wome and Nigerian defender Furo Iyenemi as the official stamped down on continuous late tackles.
The foul by Iyenemi proved particularly costly because Cameroon snatched the lead from the resultant free kick by Wome as Samuel Eto'o pounced on the ball at the near post and fired past Shorunmu.
If the goal stunned green-clad Nigerian supporters, the second soon after induced silence as Mboma picked up an Eto'o pass inside the penalty area and watched his low shot go between the legs of Nigerian goalkeeper Shorunmu into the net.
Nigerian captain Oliseh led by example as he battled to keep the heads of his teammates up and was not far off target with a 30-metre free kick that Cameroon goalie Alioum knew little about.
Okocha shot straight at the goalkeeper from close range, Finidi George had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down and Mutiu Adepoju wasted a chance by blazing a weak clearance over.
Kanu, right, failed to impress in the final, when Nigeria needed him most photos: AFP
But just when the Indomitable Lions thought they had secured a two-goal first-half advantage, Nigeria struck with Kanu passing to Chukwu Ndukwe, who scored with a left-foot shot that just beat the despairing dive of Alioum.
Ndukwe was replaced by 'super sub' Julius Aghahowa at the break and less than two minutes into the second half Nigeria were level with one of the best goals of the three-week tournament. Okocha picked up the ball 30 metres from goal, studied his target and unleashed a thunderous drive that flew over the raised hand of Alioum into the roof of the net.
Oliseh was cautioned for retaliating following a foul and Nigerian Taribo West did well to clear with Eto'o ready to convert a Laurent Mayer cross as the second half continued at a much more languid pace than the dramatic first 45 minutes.
Tijani Babangida, two-goal hero of the semi-final triumph over former champions South Africa, was introduced midway through the half for ineffective George as the teams battled to create clear-cut chances.
Eto'o was next to depart the stage, giving way to Joseph-Desire Job, but the hectic pace of the early stages was taking its toll and the match seemed destined for extra time long before the 90 minutes elapsed.
Nigeria proved to be the more attack-minded team in the first period of extra time. The second extra time shed light on how tired the players had become after six matches and intense media, political and public pressure.
Thousands of fans spilled onto the running track around the pitch after the match ended. Tear gas was seen in several parts of the ground as police, some on horseback, tried to restore order. Outside the stadium, war-like scenes were witnessed. Tear gas pervaded the air, gangs of Nigerian youths wielding sticks and other objects ran amok and the sounds of shots could be heard against the din of wailing sirens.
Convoys of limousines, escorted by police menacingly wielding sub-machine guns, forced their way through crowds of people as officials were ushered away to safety.
History repeats Cameroon and Nigeria had both won the competition twice before. Both Cameroon's ACN victories had come at the expense of the Nigerians, who they beat in 1984 and again in 1988. Cameroon came from a goal down to win 3-1 against the Super Eagles in the 1984 final in Cote d'Ivoire, with Roger Milla playing the leading role but failing to score. Milla, recently named Africa's Footballer of the Century, was also captain of the winning team in Morocco in 1988 when Cameroon beat Nigeria 1-0 in the final. The result was settled by a 55th minute penalty, scored by defender Emmanuel Kunde. Nigeria's team included Stephen Keshi, who is now the assistant coach of the Nigerian squad. The last meeting between the two countries at an ACN championship was in the third place play-off match in Senegal in 1992. Nigeria won 2-1 to take the bronze medal. Nigeria beat Cameroon 1-0 in a friendly match at a four-nation tournament in Tunisia three years ago, the last time the two neighbours faced each other in an official international. Goal getters Shaun Bartlett of South Africa was the tournament's highest scorer with five goals. Cameroon's Patrick Mboma and Samuel Eto'o scored four apiece. Hossam Hassan of Egypt and Julius Aghahowa and Austin Okocha of Nigeria all shared third-place honours, each netting three times.
