Eto'o breaks record as Cameroon, Egypt fight on

ACCRA: Samuel Eto'o became the all-time leading goalscorer at the African Nations Cup on Wednesday when he fired Cameroon into the quarterfinals, where Egypt will also feature despite Zambia holding the defending champion to a 1-1 draw.

In Tamale Eto'o's first-half penalty and end-of-time second sandwiched between defender Mohamed Khiber's own goal fired Cameroon to a 3-0 win over Sudan to bag the Group C runner-up spot on six points.

Over in Kumasi, where the attendance figure barely touched 5,000, Egypt was held by come-from-behind Zambia with a point sufficient to make it the group leader.

Egypt is in a quest here for a record sixth title.

The Pharaohs and the handful of fans had to contend with a smoky stadium as sawdust bonfires were lit outside in a local tradition to ward off mosquitoes, flouting local authority laws.

Wednesday's quarterfinal new recruit join already-qualified Cote d'Ivoire, host Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria.

Wednesday's two losing sides Sudan and Zambia joined Morocco, Benin, Mali and Namibia on the opening-round scrap heap.

The tenth day of the biennial competition undoubtedly belonged to Eto'o.

The Barcelona striker was level on 14 goals with Laurent Pokou of Cote d'Ivoire entering the final-round fixture and took just 27 minutes to create history at Tamale Stadium before adding a second in stoppage time.

The three-time African Player of the Year celebrated reaching the milestone with extreme calm, returning to the center circle while accepting the congratulations of teammates approaching him one at a time.

Eto'o struck his first Nations Cup goal in a 2000 group match against Cote d'Ivoire in Accra and his tally includes one hat-trick, against Angola in Cairo two years ago.

A fierce critic of racism, Eto'o helped the "Indomitable Lions" win the symbol of African national team supremacy in 2000 and 2002 and this is his fifth appearance at the biennial tournament.

Cameroon coach Otto Pfister later complained of some hitches in the local organization, claiming the team - having already lost its baggage - had to wait two hours for its hotel rooms to be ready, and then wait for its meals.

It meant Cameroon failed to train as it had planned for its final group fixture.

But in the end, Pfister was walking proud after reminding everyone of his side's goal-scoring record so far.

"Even after everything that happened to us, we're still the only team to have scored 10 goals. And we've got the tournament's all-time record goal-scorer," said Pfister, who had special praise for his star striker.

"He (Eto'o) played his usual match, but in two or three moves he showed that he is truly world class."

He added: "Our first aim was to qualify for the quarterfinals. Now, we will be fully focussed on the next round.

"In this tournament no one is unbeatable. That's why we have to keep to our game plan. The team that keeps its concentration most is the team that will be champion."

The full knockout stage cast list will emerge Thursday after Group D's final games with a top-of-the-table clash between Angola and Tunisia, and struggling South Africa hoping for a last-minute reprieve against Senegal.

AFP

(China Daily 02/01/2008 page24)