Cameroon 2 China 0
A beautiful sunny day in Melbourne, there was no suggestion in the CBD that there was a football game happening this afternoon, a handful of red-shirted China fans making their way inconspicuously through the crowds at Flinders Station en route for AAMI Park. Outside the stadium, the gates were locked until after the players disappeared down the tunnel for their final team talks, the China fans making the noise with their drum while waving their red flags. The sea of green seats, hands covering faces on the eastern side to shield from the fierce sun, was comparable to Accor Stadium on Friday when the blue seats were pierced by the odd soul, but this time the China fans in the corner were more visible and the two burly Cameroonians singing the French remix national anthem had the floor to themselves. The teams swapped ends, some advantage having been noted by one of the team captains, perhaps a stiff breeze playing its part.
As coach David Pagou had ineloquently suggested in his post-match press-conference on Friday, Cameroon had a completely different starting line-up and there was indeed no cross-over of personnel from the first game of this FIFA International Series. Both teams in their change strips, Cameroon all white and China all yellow with indecipherable numbers, it was the African team who started brightly, Angel Yondjo cutting to the byline to centre but goalkeeper Junling Yan cut the cross out. Cameroon were in a giving mood at the back, offering the ball to their opposition early in the game, but they scored soon after, Karl Etta Eyong racing onto a slide-rule pass, perhaps not meant for him, to touch the ball past Yan for 1-0. Incredibly it was 2-0 before we knew it, Cameroon winning a corner that they had no right to win, and as China dozed at the corner kick, a chance at the near post was sliced across goal to Saidou Alioum at the far post who was completely unmarked to rifle home a second goal. Eight minutes played, the China fans growing in number and bringing their voices, the stadium was stunned.
Yudong Wang was taken down in a heavy challenge by Stephane Keller, the free-kick in a dangerous position, but Wang’s free-kick was hit straight out of play to groans from the China fans at the other end. China were wasteful with the ball, their forays into the Cameroon half breaking down with balls into their forwards being laid off under heavy pressure. Mael Monyebe was taken out racing for a through ball but the referee was unmoved. Cameroon were a step above their opponents, physically and skilfully, and were looking more likely to extend their lead. Alioum went over in a heap in front of the China fans who showed contempt, the handful of colourful Cameroon fans dotted around the stadium enjoying what they were seeing. The players were contending with a somewhat slippery pitch, the stud of choice not quite doing it on the slick surface, Keven Keben helping his opponent to the floor to receive a lecture from the referee.
Cameroon won a free kick on the right, Mahamadou Nagida curling a beauty just past the post with Yan at full stretch. Eyong should have done better with a shot from distance when China coughed up possession coming out from the back, and when Alioum got clear on the right, he drilled to the near post where Eyong was unmarked but somehow blasted wide from close range. The sun was finally being pushed back in the East stand as an injury used up some time, the referee urging the players not to take on water when he could have simply played the drop ball with half of the players at the edge of the pitch. China came back into the game as the half wore on, perhaps another indication that Cameroon’s ridiculous policy of playing two separate squads in this series was going to have its effect again. A corner from the left just evaded a China foot, but the two added minutes were spent in the China half as Cameroon searched for a third goal to underline their superiority.
China should have scored with their first attack of the second half, Liangming Lin’s first touch and he was clean through but he placed his shot past the post with the China fans already saluting a goal. This was frantic. Lin got the wrong side of his defender and made sure he was in the box before tumbling from the tackle, the referee deciding that the offence had happened outside the area. His free kick was drilled in and pushed behind for a corner. This was a siege, China were buzzing around, two shots fired in quick succession blocked by the valiant Cameroon defence; goalkeeper Simon Ngapandouetnbu went to ground to buy his team some breathing space after a tough opening five minutes of the second period. Lin and Jackson Tchatchoua collided in a big hit that left the Cameroonian on the ground in discomfort, and from the free kick, Alioum acrobatically half-volleyed on goal but goalkeeper Yan turnd the thrilling shot away.
Mael Monyebe was on the ground after a scuffle in front of the Cameroon bench, when he appeared to be stood on, the whole bench up shaking their legs like a crazy dance, mimicking a stamp, jet-lagged referee Alireza Faghani unimpressed with some of the vehement appeals and he brandished a red card to one of five or six Cameroon staff to a huge roar from the crowd. The China fans had been in a good mood the whole game and were taken to another level, Monyebe dropping to the ground eliciting what sounded like a ‘Stand Up’ chant from the China corner. Konrad Nfanseu saved his team, touching a cross out for a corner with players lining up to convert for China, but that was his last touch, the stretch proving a bridge too far. There were heavy hits that went unpunished, but Cameroon remained composed and efficient in defence. Eyong headed over from a corner, Arthur Avom danced through the defence with a sparkling run, but the impressive Alioum managed to put the chance wide. This was a robust game, the players throwing themselves into challenges; there was no love lost, but the game was being played in good spirit.
China upped the tempo, Lin was superb, but it was his opposite number Alioum who was thrilling the crowd, another blazing run up the left stopped by a cynical foul and a yellow card. Cameroon should have scored when Oliver Kamdem surged up the right and crossed, Alioum taking aim but sending his shot into orbit. The China fans, resembling a decent English League One away following, were marvellous, providing all the atmosphere and reacting to everything on the pitch. A clever move from Danny Namaso up the right saw him play a one-two with the corner flag, ultimately winning the corner off the defender; moments later, Kamdem took a theatrical tumble in front of the referee and won a free kick. His delivery was incredibly poor, but Avom smashed in the rebound that took a deflection and just cleared the post. There were three minutes of injury time, enough for Keller to drag back his opponent as China broke upfield, the referee realising that he had already brandished a yellow card and producing the red after a short delay. There was enough time for the free kick to be delivered and Chenje Zhu smashed the knockdown over with a spectacular shot to bring the action to a close.
This had been a very entertaining game. Such a random fixture to see in Melbourne, two teams that missed out on World Cup qualification going at each other full throttle in a contest that was completely absorbing. There were stand-out performances from Saidou Alioum for Cameroon and second-half substitute Liangming Lin for China and there must be a tip of the hat to the well-travelled referee Ali Faghani for backing up from Thursday’s Intercontinental play-off in Mexico with a stern performance to keep these two teams from boiling over.
Attention now turns to the main event of the evening, Australia taking on fellow World Cup qualifiers Curacao in the second game of this Melbourne double-header. Stay tuned!