OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 7.30pm.
CAMEROON took a three-point lead after two rounds in Group 2 at the All Africa Games with a 2-0 victory over Zambia at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Etienne Kibonglam headed the Central Africans in front after 40 minutes and captain Gaspard Abeka punished a defensive blunder to add a second goal with 18 minutes left on a cold afternoon.
A point against disappointing Cote d’Ivoire in the final round on Tuesday will assure Cameroon of first place while Zambia finish against struggling Mauritius and should also reach the semi-finals.
While Cameroon used superior physique to wear down Zambia, the match lacked sparkle and the busiest people at the ground in the black township of Soweto were the Tunisian referee and the medical personnel.
Cameroon received five cautions and Zambia two before losing captain Moses Sichone was red carded four minutes into injury time for a second booking following a wild challenge on Ze Albert Meyongue.
Fouls and injuries forced constant stoppages before a small crowd, composed mainly of athletes from Cameroon and Zambia competing in other events at the quadrennial Games.
Poor marking at a corner permitted Kibonglam to race between two defenders at the far post and head over goalkeeper Davies Phiri and another two Zambians on the goalline.
Abeka sealed the three points when he ran on to a loose ball that
George Chilufya failed to control and hammered a left-foot shot past Phiri from close range. Meanwhile, lucky Cote d’Ivoire kept alive their slender hopes of reaching the semi-finals with a 3-2 victory over Mauritius in Group 2 at Rand Stadium on Sunday.
Adama Kone scored in each half for the Ivorians and Miezan Koffi struck the winner two minutes before the final whistle after goals from Patrick Naboth and Jean-Marc Ithier had brought the Mauritians level.
Cote d’Ivoire, who eliminated Ghana and Nigeria to qualify for the finals, complete their mini-league programme on Tuesday and will probably need maximum points to have any chance of survival.
They were fortunate to defeat Mauritius, whose experienced goalkeeper Orwin Castel had a nightmare afternoon before a crowd of about 200 and was to blame for two of the goals.
Kone opened the scoring after 33 minutes by tapping in a Zephrin Zoko cross when Castel fumbled the ball and he struck again 10 minutes into the second half with Zoko once more the architect.
Mauritius displayed much more adventure than in their opening-round loss to Cameroon and two goals within three minutes set up a thrilling finish in cold, windy conditions.
A Naboth volley flew past the goalkeeper into the net and Ithier headed home a Louis Cundasami corner only for Castel to spill a Koffi shot and the Ivorian scored off the rebound.
No West African was more relieved by the late goal than Atto Koutouan, whose weak penalty kick early in the first half was saved by Castel after Guillano Edouard had handled. — AFP