ACTUALITE |
05.02.2006
Cameroon 1-1 Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast beat Cameroon 12-11 in an extraordinary penalty shoot-out at the African Cup of Nations.
Didier Drogba converted the winning penalty after Samuel Eto`o had sent his second spotkick soaring over the bar.
Both sides found the net with their first 11 penalties once extra-time had finished with the score locked at 1-1.
The Elephants` victory in the highest-scoring shoot-out in Nations Cup history means they will face Nigeria in Tuesday`s first semi-final.
Both sides attempted to get the upper hand early on by flying into their tackles, but the game struggled to move above the pedestrian.
Ivory Coast`s Arouna Kone and Cameroon`s Eto`o exchanged long range shots before Eto`o missed a great chance on 40 minutes.
The tournament`s top scorer took advantage of an Ivorian error, cutting past Kolo Toure only for Jean-Jacques Tizie to save his close-range shot.
Cameroon started the second half with renewed energy, captain Rigobert Song sending a header flashing over the bar from Geremi`s corner.
Ivorian skipper Drogba was busy, too, twice hitting first-time volleys that surprised the Cameroon defence.
As normal time came to an end, Tizie had to be at his athletic best to keep out a stinging long-range drive from Cameroon left-back Thimothee Atouba.
Ivory Coast eventually broke the deadlock two minutes into extra time.
Substitute Bakari Kone was well placed to rifle in the loose ball after right-back Emmanuel Eboue`s powerful shot rebounded off the bar.
Seconds later Geremi hit the Ivorian bar, before Albert Ze Meyong took advantage of a muddle in the Elephants defence to equalise.
In the second period of extra time, Kolo Toure blocked Ze Meyong when the young Cameroon striker seemed set to score.
Then as time ran out, Hamidou was forced to dive to his left to keep out Ivory Coast substitute Romaric Ndri.
In the penalty shoot-out, every player scored with their first spotkick.
Tizie thought he had denied Cameroon`s Alioum Saidou with the scores at 7-7, but the spotkick was retaken after the Ivory Coast keeper was adjudged to have strayed off his line.
The tie was eventually settled when Eto`o blazed over.
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Hits: 1 | Source:BBC | |
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