Ghana Lose to Cameroon

Yaounde, Cameroon (PANA) - Cameroon's U-23 Olympic Squad Sunday beat their Ghanaian counterpart, Black Starlets, 2-1 at the Ahmadou Ahidjao stadium in Yaounde in a FIFA re-programmed match of the Sydney 2000 Olympic eliminators.
The first leg ended prematurely 31 October with both sides tied at a two goal aggregate score.
Barely two minutes to the end of that encounter, the Ghanaians and the Zimbabwean referee complained about poor visibility due to faulty flood lights at the stadium.
On Sunday, Cameroon's Mdida Messi Serge put his team in the lead by scoring in the 32nd minute of the first half. But the Ghanaians equalised through Nana Arain Douah in the 38th.
However, a desperate move by Eto'o Fils paid off with Cameroon's second goal in the 40th minute.
After two victories in the first two of the expected six matches, the Cameroonians are comfortably at the top of group B with six points, followed by South Africa, four points, Ghana, one point and Guinea, no point.

Meteors fall in Yaounde - Graphic

From Maurice Quansah, Yaounde


GHANA?S hope for a place at next year?s Olympic Games in Sydney became slimmer as the Black Meteors lost 1-2 to the Junior Lions of Cameroun in their group replay in Yaounde yesterday.


Victory for the home side thus put them top of the group with a 100 per cent record and manifested Ghana?s fears for the replay ordered by FIFA of the first match which ended 2-2 with four minutes of regulation time left because of poor visibility. For most Camerounians it was the most refreshing achievement by the team, perhaps more glorifying than winning the gold medal at the All African Games in South Africa. Ghana though had none but themselves to blame for surrendering the first half to the home side, and worse, losing concentration soon after equalising to allow the Lions to score the winning goal through Spain-based Etoo Fils in the 80th minute.


The Espanyol striker ? the youngest player at France ?98 ? capped an afternoon of brilliance with the winning goal, when Ghana?s defence was caught flat-footed after a quick counter by the Camerounians. Ghana?s loss, painful as it was, was somewhat self-inflicted as the team lost the midfield to their opponents, thus allowing the Lions a field day in the first half.

However, their total dominance was not reflective of the scoreline as Meteors struggled to survive the first half in which they conceded as many as seven corner kicks. It was a story of Ghana?s unyielding spirit, epitomised by an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Osei Boateng, who stood tall to save the Meteors from a basketful of goals. His opposite number, Daniel Bekono, was on a virtual holiday as Ghana?s strike force of Peter-Ofori-Quaye and Baffour Gyan, failed to threaten the Lions goal-mouth.


As early as the sixth minute, the Meteors goalmouth began boiling under intense pressure. But the agility of Boateng, (he saved countless of goal-bound shots) and the alertness of Kofi Amponsah, Kofi Amoako and skipper Christian Gyan kept Etoo, Daniel Kone Ngom and Serge Messi Mbida from scoring.


Strangely, Ghana had no antidote to the Camerounian pressure and were forced into a highly defensive game in which Amoako and Boateng had to scoop two balls from the goal-line. Clear scoring chances were luxury to the Ghanaians. But after countless misses, natural justice was somehow restored as the Lions broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute through dangerman Mbida, who finished off a cross from Ngom. But for devine intervention, the Lions whould have increased the lead three minutes later as Mbida agonisingly watched his swerving shot bounced off the cross bar with the entire Ghanaian defence beaten. On the fringe of half time, Boateng lunged his boot into the path of a goal-bound shot by Etoo, after Ngom turned Patrick Allotey inside out and left the Feyenoord player stranded. The hopes of a few hundred of Ghanaian fans at the Omnisport Ahmadu Ahidjo were rekindled when the Meteors came back fighting in the second half.


But in the 47th minute, Peter Ofori-Quaye blasted off when he had only goalkeeper Bekono at his mercy.


Abdul Razak replaced unimpressive Emmanual Bentil to help tighten the midfield and this raised the Meteors game. Little wonder that the Meteors found the equaliser when substitute Nana Arhin Duah, who replaced Osei Kwame, fired home a non-drop shot during a defensive mix-up in the Camerounian goalmouth. However, a minute after, the Camerounians scored again in what turned out to be the winning goal.