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| January 27, 2006 | Friday | Zilhaj 26, 1426 |
Cameroon join Ivory Coast in quarterfinals
CAIRO, Jan 26: Cameroon joined the Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday as they beat sorry Togo 2-0 and looked a good bet to add a fourth title to their laurels.
Goals by star striker Samuel Eto’o and an outrageous backheel by subsitute Albert Meyong saw the Indomitable Lions to an easy win and laid bare the failings that Togo will take with them to the World Cup finals later this year.
As Togo crashed out, their fellow World Cup finals debutants Angola just about kept an interest in the tournament but only by their fingernails as they fought out a 0-0 draw with Democratic Republic of Congo, who played for 70 minutes with 10 men after rising star Tresor Mputu was sent off.
It left DRC needing a point from their last match with Cameroon to join them in the last eight.
For a while it looked like Togo’s tactics of stopping the flowing Cameroon attacks would ultiamtely frustrate the African giants.
However the question is how does one stop a talent like Eto’o from scoring.
The Barcelona ace finally cracked the Togo barrier in the second-half with an unstoppable effort from just outside the area for his fourth goal of the tournament and 22nd in 48 internationals.
With Togo’s wantaway striker Emmanuel Adebayor cutting a lonely figure up front it was only a question of time before Cameroon got a second and it was quite something as Eto’o beat two defenders and cut the ball back into Meyong, who, with his back to goal, backheeled it into the far side of the net.
Nevertheless there was rather a killjoy effect from Cameroon’s coach Artur Jorge, who looked like he had been eating lemons.
His Togolese counterpart Stephen Keshi remained defiant having seen his star fall dramatically since they qualified for the World Cup finals.
However, Keshi also refused to agree that his row with Arsenal-bound striker Adebayor - who had almost come to blows with him and threatened to leave after the opening defeat against DRC - had damaged the morale of the team.
In the day’s other match, the DRC held out for a goalless draw despite losing Mputu, who scored in the opening win over Togo, after 20 minutes for rashly kicking Carlos Alonso between the legs.
Distraught, Mputu tried to reason with the referee Badara Djatta but the Senegalese official was having none of it and rightly reached for the red card immediately.
The much coveted striker, who has attracted three offers from Europe including one from Lokomotiv Moscow, was given a consoling arm round the shoulders by coach Claude Le Roy on his way to the dressing rooms.
“Perhaps Mputu paid a heavy price, but he will learn from it,” said Le Roy.
Le Roy was understandably proud of his team.
Angola midfielder Paulo Figueireido said that they had not lost hope of making the last eight.
It is still mathematically possible but the odds are lengthening, and instead getting shorter on them joining their fellow World Cup qualifiers Togo on an early plane home.—AFP
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