Cameroon advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals with a score of 2-1 as Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane scored either side of halftime to defeat South Africa.
Two minutes after half-time, Kofane, a 14-year-old Bayer Leverkusen forward, scored the crucial second goal at Al Medina Stadium in Rabat. Tchamadeu opened the scoring in the 34th minute.
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Evidence Makgopa rallied late from South Africa, but it was Cameroon who prevailed. The hosts, Morocco, will play the five-time champions in a heavyweight quarterfinal on Friday.
They can relax before the match, knowing that Morocco will be under no pressure to defend their title in front of their own home supporters.
After a chaotic start, when Samuel Eto’o, the president of the football federation, and Indomitable Lions legend, replaced Marc Brys as the coach, David Pagou, Cameroon’s AFCON was already a success.
Hugo Broos, who had been South Africa’s top coach for nine years, was deposed by the new coach, who had promised to show no mercy to Cameroon at the time of their last continental crown at the Cup of Nations in Gabon.
Bafana Bafana, who finished third in the last AFCON in Ivory Coast two years ago, will be greatly disappointed, but they can make themselves at ease by focusing on the upcoming World Cup.
However, South Africa had opportunities to take the lead early, but within seven minutes Relebohile Mofokeng wasted a valuable opportunity.
Mofokeng was put on goal by Cameroon’s Che Malone after a simple ball was sent back, but the Orlando Pirates forward blazed over.
The offside flag then prevented Lyle Foster from finding the net, so Cameroon won the match shortly after the half-hour mark.
The ball fell to Carlos Baleba on the edge of the area when the South African defense could only partially clear a corner.
The London-born full-back with Stoke City rolled home from close range after he tried a shot that was deflected into Tchamadeu’s path.
The Cameroonian fans, who made up the majority of the 14, 127 crowd, included Eto’o, a two-time AFCON champion, among those in attendance. That goal was confirmed after a lengthy VAR check.
South Africa had anticipated a strong second half start, but Cameroon did not. Within two minutes of the restart.
Mahamadou Nagida’s substitution crossed from the left, and Kofane scored the tournament’s second goal.
After 88 minutes, Cameroon goalkeeper Devis Epassy turned in a low cross from fellow substitute Aubrey Modiba to make good saves from Samukele Kabini and a Teboho Mokoena free-kick.
That resulted in a grandstand finish, but Cameroon resisted.
Tanzania vs. Morocco
With a nervous 1-0 Round-of-16 victory over Tanzania in Rabat earlier on Sunday, Brahim Diaz scored his fourth goal for Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
It took a fine strike from Diaz to secure a spot in the last eight, where Morocco dominated possession but Tanzania had opportunities as well.
On 64 minutes, Diaz was given a feeding from the team’s Achraf Hakimi on the right side of the box, and he shot into the goal from a close angle when most people expected a cross.
With the score at 0-0, Morocco squandered several more chances, but they were fortunate that Tanzania also wasted chances, with Feisal Salum and Simon Msuva both missing crucial opportunities.
The home team, who have yet to hit the top of the tournament, did enough to maintain their momentum.
Diaz said, “We faced our toughest opponent in this Tanzania team, and the competition is getting stronger.”
We are aware that not everything worked, but we are fortunate to have advanced to the next round of qualifying. We’re going back to work now so we can finish the quarterfinals.
Source: Aljazeera
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