Zimpapers Sports Hub
Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) 2
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 1
THE Warriors staged a gallant fight against Cameroon, but a questionable call by Burundian referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana robbed them of a deserved point against the five-time African champions at their Ahmadou Ahidjo football fortress in Yaounde yesterday.
Ndabihawenimana provoked the ire of Zimbabwean football supporters after he chalked off what was supposed to be a dramatic added-time equaliser by Terrence Dzvukamanja for an off-side that could not be proven by television replays.
On any other day, Dzvukamanja could have ended the match with a brace after the South Africa-based forward had hit one back for Zimbabwe with a fine strike in the 73rd minute.
At the end of the day, the Warriors walked away empty-handed, having fallen to two first-half goals by Indomitable Lions' captain Vincent Aboubakar and George-Kevin N'Koudou.
But on reflection, the poor offside decision by Ndabihawenimana was daylight robbery considering that neither the supplier of the ball Jordan Zemura nor the scorer was in an offside position.
The good thing was that both Cameroon and the Warriors had already qualified for the AFCON finals going into the last Group J match.
Still, Warriors coach Michael Nees was satisfied with his charges, who recovered from a first-half slumber to cause problems for Cameroon in the second half. However, the Indomitable Lions remained unbeaten at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium for 52 years although Nees was convinced Cameroon was beatable on their home turf.
The German coach felt his team's subdued first-half performance was due to fatigue.
"We played a match on Friday evening, we travelled 35 hours, we had no training sessions until yesterday before the match, not even a recovery session and it was only clear when our players had tired legs," said Nees.
"We were not only physically but also mentally not in the game in the first half. We were a bit sleepy. Communication was not good, the sun was hot and the humidity but in the second half we showed a different character.
"The players had a big character and they wanted to show that they could play football and challenge Cameroon and I think in the end we deserved a draw. I think five more minutes we could have scored," said Nees.
Zimbabwe made a slow start, which cost them two goals due to defensive frailties after the defenders went to sleep in a five-minute blitz.
Cameroon forward Aboubakar made his way through the middle and created enough space for himself to unleash a rising shot that beat goalkeeper Washington Arubi after 18 minutes.
Before the Warriors could re-organise themselves, N'Koudou doubled Cameroon's lead after beating Godknows Murwira in the box and slicing the ball past partially obscured goalkeeper Arubi in the 23rd minute.
But Arubi did well to keep the home side at bay with a string of top-of-the-drawer saves in both halves.
Zimbabwe did not have as many chances at goal as Cameroon but striker Douglas Mapfumo could have done better early on after receiving a pass from Khama Billiat inside the box.
Billiat himself also failed to do justice after benefitting from a good ball into the box by Tawanda Maswanhise as the match drew closer to the half-time break. However, the usually dependable midfielder failed to connect his shot in front of goal.
Zimbabwe returned for the second half an improved side and were throwing everything back at the hosts.
To turn around the fortunes, Warriors coach Nees made a double substitution bringing in goal scorer Dzvukamanja and Prince Dube with 30 minutes remaining on the clock. Dzvukamanja first showed his intentions when he unleashed a left grounder that narrowly missed the upright.
But he was more clinical the second time with a first-time shot that gave Cameroon's Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana no chance at all after receiving a pass from Zemura.
Dzvukamanja could have gotten his double with 10 minutes remaining but he crashed his effort against the upright with Onana again a beaten man.
Cameroon could have killed the game as a contest but Arubi made another big save when he blocked Jean Charles Castelletto's shot in the 88th minute.
Zimbabwe, however, refused to throw in the towel. Billiat could have punished Onana after spotting him off the line but his shot strayed off target as the Manchester United goalkeeper retreated frantically with 90 minutes on the clock.
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But the Warriors had the right to leave the pitch aggrieved after Dzvukamanja tapped the ball into the nets from close range from a square ball by Zemura.
The referee somehow disallowed the goal for offside.
This was the first time that Zimbabwe lost a match in this campaign, having played a goalless draw against the Cameroonians in the first leg, beating Namibia back-to-back, and also drawing twice with Kenya. Zimbabwe ended the campaign second in Group J with nine points as Cameroon finished unbeaten on 14. The two teams qualified for next year's AFCON ahead of Kenya on six points and Namibia two points.
Teams
Cameroon: A. Onana, C. Wooh, E. Boyomo, N. Tolo, T. Jackson, Z. Anguissa, H. Martin, F. Magri (P. Soko, 69th min), G. Nkoudou, C. Bassogog (Y. Neyou, 6th min), A. Vincent (M. Ngomaleu, 90th min)
Zimbabwe: W. Arubi, G. Murwira (T. Machope, 85th min), D. Lunga, M. Garan'anga, T. Hadebe, M. Nakamba, A. Rinomhota (W. Musona, 73rd min), J. Zemura, K. Billiat, D. Mapfumo (P. Dube, 59th min), T. Maswanhise (A. Dzvukamanja, 59th min).
