Cameroon beats Zambia 3-2 at African Cup

Posted Monday, January 18, 2010 by AP

LUBANGO, Angola (AP)—Four-time champion Cameroon beat Zambia 3-2 Sunday to revive its hopes of reaching the quarterfinals at the African Cup of Nations. Gabon and Tunisia played to a scoreless draw.

Cameroon moved into second place in Group D with three points, one behind Gabon. It will advance with a win over Tunisia in the final group game.

“The players gave the response we needed,” Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen.

Substitute Mohamadou Idrissou scored the winner for Cameroon with a looping header with four minutes left.

Jacob Mulenga opened the scoring for Zambia in the eighth minute, converting a rebound after a misplayed clearance by Rigobert Song. Geremi Njitap tied it in the 68th and Inter Milan star Samuel Eto’o added another from close range four minutes later. Zambia’s Christopher Katongo evened the score again with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute.

“We have no option but to beat Gabon,” Zambia coach Herve Renard said. “We played a good game, especially in the first half. It gives us confidence.”

Earlier, Gabon missed a chance to reach the knockout phase with its draw against Tunisia.

“It’s a pity we dropped some points against Gabon,” Tunisia midfielder Chaouki Ben Saada said. “We are not afraid of Cameroon. We believe in our ability.”

Gabon wasted a handful of opportunities and failed to build on the momentum of its opening 1-0 win over Cameroon. The team will now have to wait until its last group game against Zambia to know its fate.

“I was really pleased with my team’s performance in difficult conditions with this rain,” Gabon coach Alain Giresse said. “It was difficult to control the ball.”

Assistant coach Sami Trabelsi was pleased with Tunisia’s play.

“What we need to do is to get a win in the final game,” he said.