Cameroon One Step Away From 'Algeria 2013' Final Round

The U-20 Lions beat the Simbas 2-0 to take a good option towards qualifying for the nation's cup in that category.

Cameroon has taken a good option towards qualifying for the final round of the junior Africa Cup of Nations to take place next year in Algeria. In the first leg second round qualifier match on Saturday at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde, the junior Lions beat their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-0. The U-20 Lions were largely superior in the encounter and would have won with a wider goal margin had they concretised the several chances they created upfront. It was evident that the junior Lions have improved physically and tactically since their last match against Sierra Leone at the Mfandena sports complex when they won 2-0 with much difficulty and out of a stroke of luck.

The U-Lions braced for the encounter with the intention of winning with a wide goal margin and with style and did just that. Barely five minutes into the encounter, the Lions declared their intention by obtaining the curtain raiser through the budding star, Eloundou Etoundi Charles. Eloundou turned out to be the man of the match as fifteen minutes later; he was again the author of the decisive pass that gave Cameroon the second goal. After singlehandedly eliminating the Congolese defence, Eloundou gave a clinical pass to Djika Hugues Douglas who hammered in the second goal at the 20th minute. Mbongo Ewangue would have aggravated scores before the half hour mark but shot the ball above the goalpost in a face-to-face duel with goalkeeper Bakala Landu of D.R. Congo. A third goal for Cameroon was disallowed for off-side play. The second half was uneventful as the Lions continued to squander several goal scoring opportunities.

The Congolese were far from ridiculous and have promised to take their revenge on Cameroon during the return leg in a fortnight's time and clinch the ticket to Algeria 2013. Some over 3,500 youths drawn from secondary schools and football academies were mobilised to witness the encounter and cheer the lions to victory by the team press officer, Albert Njie Bonde and the notions of patriotism and solidarity inculcated in them.