Star skipper Eto'o backs his Cameroon fighters
African superstar Samuel Eto'o is banking on fighting spirit driving
Cameroon into the Cup of Nations quarter-finals on Thursday.
The 'Indomitable Lions' tackle fellow former champions Tunisia at the
new 20,000-seat Tundavala Stadium in this southern Angola town and the
stakes are sky high.
Victory for four-time title holders Cameroon over the 'Carthage
Eagles' and they are definitely through to the last-eight phase of the
biennial African football showcase.
A draw might suffice, depending on what happens between leaders Gabon
and lowly Zambia at Ombaka Stadium in Benguela; a loss will condemn one
of the pre-tournament title favourites to a humiliating early exit.
But three-time African Footballer of the Year and Inter Milan striker
Eto'o says the thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Zambia last
Sunday rekindled his pride in the national team. "I was so proud to be
Cameroonian that night, to be part of a team that displayed so much
character and could rise to the occasion in the most difficult of
situations," said the 'Lions' captain.
"It was a very difficult match for us with Zambia playing so well and
defeat stared us in the face midway through the second half, but we
fought on knowing the implications of not securing maximum points."
The striker who succeeded long-serving defender Rigobert Song as
skipper when French coach Paul Le Guen took control last August, played
a central role in the recovery by scoring the second goal with a
trademark clinical finish.
And Eto'o, who helped Cameroon conquer Africa in 2000 and 2002, and
is the leading all-time Cup of Nations scorer with 17 goals, has reason
to be hopeful against a Tunisian side that must triumph to survive the
group-phase cull.
The countries have clashed three times in the 53-year Africa Cup of
Nations with a 1-1 stalemate in 1982 followed by Cameroon victories in a
2000 semi-final and a 2008 quarter-final.
It was 3-0 in Nigeria 10 years ago and 3-2 after extra time in Ghana
two years ago after one of greatest games of a great tournament was
settled by a Stephane Mbia strike on 92 minutes.
This Nations Cup may have kicked off with Ivory Coast the almost
unanimous media favourites, but few rejected the possibility that
Cameroon could go all the way and come within one title of six-time
champions Egypt.
Captain and defender Karim Haggui accepts Tunisia came into the Cup
wearing a work-in-progress tag as caretaker coach Faouzi Benzarti put
his faith in youth after a shock failure to reach the 2010 World Cup in
South Africa.
LUBANGO, AFP
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