| From the Olympics homepage: Tuesday, September 26, 2000
AFTER CHILE WENT ahead on an own goal by Patrice Abanda in the 78th minute, Patrick Nboma tied it in the 83rd. Lauren then drove home the decisive penalty kick after Chile defender Pablo Contreras knocked downed Nboma in the penalty area. It was another dramatic triumph for the Africans, who beat Brazil 2-1 in extra time of the quarterfinals while playing with just nine men. And it meant an African nation has made the final for the second consecutive time. Four years ago, Nigeria triumphed after victories over two South American teams, Brazil in the semifinals and Argentina in the final. "The gold medal has always been our objective, like it was with Nigeria,” said Cameroon coach Jean-Paul Akono. “Nigeria paved the way four years ago for African football and Cameroon is heading for the same achievement. "Both teams went out to attack. Chile’s goal was the result of an accident from my team but, instead of lowering our morale, it made us stronger.” Lauren said he wasn’t nervous about taking such a vital penalty kick. “I had enough character and confidence to take it,” he said. “I had a similar experience in the African Nations Cup,when we won on penalties and drew a lot from that experience.” Akono claimed he had some surprise tactics to thwart Chile’s Ivan Zamorano and Reinaldo Navia, who had eight goals between them entering the game. A rigidly enforced offside trap clearly worked for the first 30 minutes. Cameroon nearly broke the scoreless tie early in the second half. Chilean goalkeeper Nelson Tapia, 18 years older than his opposite number and the oldest player in the tournament at 34, blocked but failed to hold a 25-yard shot from Mboma. Samuel Eto’o followed up, firing the rebound over the crossbar. Chile had a golden chance to go ahead when Cristian Alvarez broke the offside trap and found he had three unmarked teammates to aim at with his cross. Zamorano and Navia were two of them, but the ball went to Claudio Maldonado whose header wasn’t even on target. The breakthrough came in the 78th minute when the Cameroon defense again got caught by a long ball. Substitute Sebastian Gonzalez got clear only to have the 16-year-old Cameroon goalie, Carlos Kameni, block the shot. But the ball struck Abanda facing his own goal and rebounded in. The lead lasted five minutes before Chile failed to clear a corner kick and Mboma fired home a left-footed shot. Chile coach Nelson Acosta said his team wasted too many chances. “Most of it was our fault,” he said. “We did not know how to turn our chances into goals and we just had to try and hang on.” © 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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