Cameroon manager Paul Le Guen decided to employ a classic formation, with Henri Bedimo being the only real surprise starter. The new-boy would go on to have a great display in his first match with the Indomitables Lions. The Cameroonians dominated the early stages of the match without being particularly dangerous but in the 20th minute their first serious opportunity arrived when Samuel Eto’o missed a chance to open up the scoring. The Inter superstar was in the middle of three Togo players but somehow managed to send them the wrong direction by faking a pass to Achille Emana which opened up the left side of the penalty area. Unfortunately for him, his strike would not be precise enough. Cameroon went very close to scoring in the 32nd minute when Achille Webo was fouled in the box by the Togolese goalkeeper, prompting the referee to give the home side a penalty-kick.




Geremi Njitap took the penalty but the Newcastle player’s shot was saved by Odjovi Obilale and the rebound fell to Achille Emana and the Real Betis’ player’s strike was pushed away as well by Obilale but this time the ball squirted loose to Njitap, who smacked his shot into the back of the net to give Cameroon the lead.

Just after one minute after the half-time interval, Samuel Eto’o danced his way around the Togolese defence, beating four players before slipping a smart and beautiful pass to Jean II Makoun who gave his country a comfortable 2-0 lead with a beautiful curling shot that found the back of the net.

In the 52nd minute, Alexandre Song dialed up a long distance effort that fell to Achille Emana and the ex-Toulouse player controlled the ball before slotting a shot past Obilale who had no chance.

After that third goal, Cameroon took their foot off the pedal and cruised to an easy victory over an over-matched Togo side.

Goal.com

AP

 

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Article publié le Sunday, October 11, 2009