Second extra time. Four minutes of added time to regulation. Tiredness and tension cloud all the senses. You play with your heart in your mouth, whatever you can and how you can. Only with instinct. So in the last ball of the match drops a cross into the area, where six players from the attacking team wait with minimal hope but also with the sad suspicion that it will no longer be possible. The center is weak and falls in the crescent, however a striker wins in the heights and heads into the area. The defenders, also fighting with the last of their strength, do not react. Y appears, as a sudden gesture of fate, a furtive scorer who makes an entire town delirious with happiness.
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That scorer is Karl Toko Ekambi, scorer of the latest goal in the entire history of the Qualifiers to grant Cameroon direct qualification to a World Cup. It was at 19 minutes of the second stage of extra time against Algeria, that is to say at 124 minutes of play. The indomitable Lions, respectful of their nickname, they achieved passage to Qatar 2022 in one of the most celebrated matches of all time.
This goal has a historical significance that exceeds its meaning. Namely, the way in which it was achieved is celebrated much more than the simple fact that it served to secure a place in the World Cup. Football, in short, is that. Unforgettable moments that unleash popular joys. A failed participation in the Middle East will not erase that moment of absolute joy.
CONTEXT
Cameroon and Algeria entered their clash in the last phase of the Qualifiers after winning their respective groups. The Cameroonian team did so thanks to a narrow victory over Ivory Coast on the final day, while the Algerians had no major problems to finish above Burkina Faso in your area.
The North African team arrived as a favorite to the first leg played on March 25. Arrived at the Africa Cup disputed in January with a unbeaten in 35 gamesbut in that tournament held in Cameroon was the great disappointment and said goodbye in the first phase. However, he had won the Africa Cup at the end of last year, he had a Premier League star What Riyadh Mahrez in great shape and a coach whose work cycle was already four years in the making.
Instead, Cameroon He came from a great frustration in the Cup he organized, from which he was eliminated in the semifinals against Egypt when the main objective was to do the Olympic lap. That defeat caused the departure of DT Toni Conceição and the Arrival of Rigobert Song a few weeks before the confrontation over the World Cup ticket.
Cameroon team that achieved the feat of beating Algeria in extra time at Mustapha EPA
The first leg was played at the Estadio Japoma stadium in Douala, Cameroon.. In that redoubt, the local He had been undefeated for more than twenty years. «We don’t care about the stadium,» Mahrez said before the match. It was a very even clash, unappealing and emotionless. Algeria had bad memories of that land where days before they had lost in the Africa Cup and Belmadi decided on a strange and cautious 5-3-2 formation, which he had never used. The plan worked out very well for him, because 40 minutes into the first half, islam slimani scored the only goal of the match after a cross from Youcef Belail.
Farewell to the undefeated Cameroonian at home and the obligation to go win at the Mustapha Tchaker stadium in Blida, where Algeria had gone 40 games without falling. After the defeat, Song criticized the visitor’s attitude: “Algeria didn’t come to play. Our players were there to play, our objective was to play. Football, if you put seven people behind it, it’s complicated.» At the same time, he sent an optimistic message: “I can’t change things in three days or four days. I will do whatever it takes because I am a competitor. You have to stay positive.»
THE MATCH
Of course, tens of thousands of Algerians packed the stadium to enjoy a qualification that they thought was certain. They just needed to draw on a stage where they had never fallen since the opening. After the great campaign in Brazil 2014 they had been left out of Russia 2018 and the return to a World Cup was one step away. Cameroonfor his part, traveled in silence but with the hope of those who still fight.
Unlike the first shock, Rematch had great emotion from the beginning. The local came out with a much more offensive eleven and the visit knew that they could not speculate. Thanks to that impetus scored the first goal, at 22 minutes of the initial stage. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting took advantage of an error by goalkeeper Raïs M’Bolhi and made it 1-0.
The ninety minutes passed without changes in the scoreboard and so the extension was reached. So, when the tiredness and the nerves get bigger, the emotions arrived. Two minutes from the end ahmed tubawho had entered shortly before, got a lapidary header and unleashed the joy of the entire stadium. The 1-1 classified Algeria and had come at the right time, when the clock ticks for the winner.
The Indomitable Lions only had to hold on to the epic. Perhaps to his own identity. To that intangible ability not to be «tamed». The most remembered goals of its history are that of Grégoire M’Bida to Italy in 1982, that of François Omam-Biyik to Argentina in 1990 and those of Roger Milla to Colombia also in that unforgettable World Cup in Italy. This, although it was not in the maximum tournament, enters the gallery for its dramatic value.
There was nothing else to do throw the ball into the area. Pierre Kunde he did that from the right wing and the central Michael Ngadeu he scrambled to lower her head. Then, Toko Ekambi appeared and defined. Each of the Cameroonians present on the field of play forgot their fatigue and ran alongside the scorer. All together they formed a massive hug on the margins of the field, just as it was happening in his homeland.
Can Cameroon carry that fighting spirit to the World Cup? Sure you can. They have players used to playing in the big leagues and they already know what it means to succeed in extreme situations. What will be difficult is to repeat an instant like that. Even under the lights of Qatar.