Cameroon 1-0 Egypt
Quarter-final, Sikasso.
A Patrick Mboma header was enough to take Cameroon through to the semi-finals in yet another poor game of football at Mali 2002.
There had been precious little incident until Mboma rose to meet a corner from the left hand side and put the ball past the back-peddling El Hadary midway through the second half.
As Mboma celebrated, Cameroon sensed that with that moment, they were through to the semi-finals.
Egypt had offered absolutely nothing up front, failing all game to even once force Boukar Alioum into a save.
Cameroon had been similarly poor before half-time, and both teams were guilty of being cagey and negative.
Embarrassing miss
But after the break, Cameroon looked hungrier, and were handed a golden opportunity.
However Samuel Eto`o Fils was guilty of the most embarrassing miss of the tournament and one that he will want to forget as quickly as possible.
A back pass to El Hadary brought
the Egyptian out of his goal, but instead of clearing it the keeper, not having a good game anyway, attempted to dribble out of his penalty area.
He was tackled well by Eto`o, presenting the Cameroon striker with an entirely open goal.
Yet somehow, the Real Mallorca player put it not only over, but wide as well.
Egypt`s play remained entirely unaffected, and instead of gaining a lift from their massive good fortune they simply plodded on with their same drab approach.
Indicative of their negative play was the fact that Ahmed Hossam, one of Africa`s most exciting young strikers, was pulled back to play in midfield.
Hence it was inevitable that when Mboma rose and scored ten minutes later, it killed off a game that had always been struggling for life.
Cameroon will now play Mali in Bamako on February 7.
With the home crowd of over 50,000 expected, and Mali`s exuberant style of play, the match should be the direct opposite of what fans had to put up with in this game.
