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Kanu and Lauren are done with their African
Nations Cup adventure for this year, and are
presumably on the plane home as I write, so
they can play against Gillingham next week.
Nigeria won a thrilling 3rd place play-off
over Mali, thanks to a solitary goal from
Yakubu Aiyegbeni om 29 minites, a good finish
to a well-worked Nigeria move from midfield.
Mali made quite a game of it after that, and
in the last minute Kanu found himself heading a
wicked shot off the line. See BBC report
Cameroon's Lions Indomptables were in fact the Lions Unbreachables, keeping clean sheets in every game they played. Their opponents in the final, Senegal, only let one in. So it's hardly surprising that the 120 minutes finished goalless - although poor finishing was equally to blame. If anything, Cameroon were on top for the 90, Senegal for the extra 30.
The Senegal keeper Sylva, who'd saved a penalty
in the semi against Nigeria, repeated the feat
right at the start of the shootout. Cameroon keeper
Alioum got to Senegal's first, but was unlucky to see
it bounce in anyway.
The next 3 all went in, with
Lauren - who's spent the tournament playing in a more advanced role than Arsenal fans will recognise - calmly stroking his down the middle as Sylva dived to the side. Fancy doing that more regularly, Lauren? Then Alioum saved a similar shot
by staying on his feet and it was all square at 2-2
after 6 penalties.
Cameroon scored the next one and none of the last 3
went in. Cameroon become the first nation to retain the
trophy for thirtysomething years.
Simon adds...
We can't refer to the African Nations Cup without mentioning: a) the sleeveless Cameroon kit: a fine fashion statement, and we dare say, practical too; and b) the German heavy-metal band hairstyles of the two managers in the final. Totally awesome dudes.
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