Match Report 1 June 2002

IRELAND	1-1	CAMEROON
Holland 51		Mboma 39

FIFA World Cup

Big Swan Stadium, Niigata
I June 2002

Big Swan Stadium
photo from the Niigata Prefecture website

Cameroon and the Republic of Ireland have more in common than meets the eye. Neither squad includes a player from its national league. Both have been disrupted in the final stages of preparation by player power.

There has been much media attention on Roy Keane’s one-man stand; much less for the strike action of the entire Cameroon squad. With the Africans it seems to be par for the course: this is the third World Cup in succession its players have refused to travel to at the last moment because of a dispute about payment. When the cash finally reached the table, travel was still a dirty word since the Fédération Camerounaise de Football had failed to obtain flight clearance for the journey. Ultimately the Indomitable Lions flew in five days late. The difference was they were seen to be having great craic from the moment they touched down and stepped off the aircraft to set about the English, who only escaped defeat with a goal in the last seconds of added time. Meanwhile, it was the Irish who were traumatised.

Roy Keane is the Daniel Day Lewis of world football, blessed with genius and incandescent with integrity. It’s a dangerous recipe for suffering and making lesser mortals suffer too. In order to play Hamlet on stage it was necessary for Mr Day Lewis to summon up the ghost of his own father to stand in for the gloomy Dane’s dad. Result? A nervous breakdown mid-performance. Give the punters their money back and find a replacement for the rest of the run. As one actor unkindly (and unfairly) put it, “Has he never tried acting?”

Keane is similarly cursed. His case against the inadequacies of the Football Association of Ireland would find sympathy with those who have experienced its limitations during the past League of Ireland season. But if he had been capable of considering the context of his actions he would surely have revised his tone and timing and avoided expulsion. He quit, reconsidered, got himself sacked and then prolonged the agony for four priceless days in the run in to the opening match before finally ruling himself out.

The absence of Roy Keane from the World Cup is a universal tragedy. If the competition is about bringing together the best players on the planet he should be there. The interests of his nation should have commanded better respect whatever his views on its soccer set up. In the long years of retirement, Keane may come to regret spurning an opportunity denied to the likes of Ryan Giggs through nationality and Robert Pires through injury. Through their eyes his arrogance is unforgivable. He will also have to count the cost of lost sponsorship and his fall from sporting hero into the very hands of the tabloid press he so detests.

With the Keane saga dominating media assessment of Ireland’s World Cup chances, the relevance of the venue has been overlooked. Its importance is best illustrated by Patrick Mboma’s recent performance in the warm up against England, where he ran the opposing central defence ragged.

Mboma struggled to make an impact during a Wearside winter with last gasp Premiership survivors Sunderland avoiding relegation on the final day of the English season. But Mboma in a singlet in 28 degrees with a humidity factor of 55% at kick off time today is a different matter. World Cup regulations saw the singlet replaced by a short sleeve shirt but, with Mboma harnessed with the equally speedy and skilful Eto’o in the Cameroon strike force against the pedestrian Breen and veteran Staunton, it promised an ominous debut for Ireland in Group E.

Cameroon are the African champions. Ireland suffered a rare home defeat against Nigeria before leaving for the far east and Senegal have already created an early World Cup sensation by defeating world champions France 1-0 in the opening match last night. The stage seems set for the Africans finally to challenge South American and European domination in world soccer.

Immensely strong, breathtakingly skilful and fast, the Cameroon team is no longer tactically naïve or temperamentally unsound. It looked a tall order for Ireland, and all three RTÉ pundits, Giles, Brady and Dunphy, predicted defeat.

In the opening stages their fears seemed justified. Physically it was mismatched, Ireland’s bantams against Cameroon’s heavyweights. The Irish chased with determination but the Africans were in control, sitting back with new-found maturity, waiting for their moment. After 26 minutes they had enjoyed fifty five per cent of the possession to Ireland’s forty five and they should have been ahead. Eight minutes earlier, the ponderous Irish defence had been sprung to allow Eto’o to race clear. Given timed his race from goal perfectly to block the striker’s effort and Kelly disposed of the loose ball.

Holland and Kinsella were admirably industrious in midfield with Robbie Keane unstinting in his efforts to help out, yet finding the stamina to get close to a Harte corner from the left. But it only looked a matter of time. On the half hour a great free kick from Geremi asked questions and then Eto’o’s speed got him through on goal. Fortunately his angle from the right was narrow and his close range effort scraped across the face of Given’s goal.

Duff was getting nowhere up front thanks to the close attention of Kalla, inevitably backed up at a moment’s notice by Geremi. There was a respite for the Irish when Kalla and Tchato clashed heads going for the same ball. Kalla was able to continue but Tchato needed a few minutes treatment on the touchline before resuming.

It was still Cameroon calling the shots with Harte rescuing Breen from Eto’o and Staunton just beating Song to a vital header in front of goal. The Africans seemed to have an extra gear and they eventually went ahead in the 39th minute when Mboma scored his 24th goal in 44 international appearances. Eto’o skinned Staunton twice on the right and pulled back the perfect ball for his strike partner to slot past the helpless Given. The Irish skipper was consigned to the role of a spectator, lying prostrate off the field of play, where his momentum had carried him. It was symbolic of the match so far.

Yet Ireland almost equalised just before half time when Duff’s determination won a disputed free kick on the right. Harte’s low range drive was deflected by Song but Alioum made a wonderful reaction save to clutch the ball at his near post.

At the interval Finnan replaced McAteer who was clearly not a hundred per cent fit. Gary Kelly moved up to accommodate him. Finnan made an immediate impact on the restart, dispossessing Foé and making a strong run down the right. If he had been omitted because of a fitness doubt there was little sign of handicap and his tenacity earned him a yellow card within five minutes when a professional foul was required to nip a dangerous opportunity in the bud. But there was a new spring to the Irish step with Kilbane missing with a glancing header from Harte’s cross from the left and an energetic Keane solo forcing a corner.

For the first time in the match Cameroon had lost their poise, although they should have made the match safe in the 51st minute when a blunder by Harte gifted Geremi a clear run on goal only for the Cameroon defender to pull his shot wide of Given’s right post. As so often happens, the side given a reprieve scored. Geremi was involved again when Kilbane slipped him on the left. Kalla’s diving defensive header went to the unmarked Holland outside the penalty area and the Ipswich captain hit a perfect right foot drive into the right hand corner of Alioum’s goal.

Alioum watches in horror as Holland's strike hangs in his net
pic from

Ireland was inspired now, with Duff beginning to show his class. It took a fine header from Song to defend a right wing cross from the irrepressible Kelly. Alioum dropped another and was lucky to get away with it but then redeemed himself with another fine reaction save at close range, this time clutching the ball right on the line. Meanwhile there was an injury scare at the other end after Given had dealt with a swirling long range cross and caught the subsequent corner. But the Irish keeper continued after treatment to his hip.

Cameroon pace was still capable of winning the game and after 66 minutes Eto’o once more outpaced the Irish central defence only to shoot wide. It was a credit to Ireland’s resurgence that the Africans now replaced his strike partner Mboma with the abrasive Suffo.

Suffo’s main claim to fame during his brief career in England was a starring role in a brawl during a match abandoned when Sheffield United were left with only seven men on the pitch. Suffo had departed the scene by then and he was soon putting himself about in Niigata, shooting wide and then coming up with a goal-bound header which Staunton headed out of a packed goalmouth. It was a jittery period for Ireland; Suffo in his turn proving Breen vulnerable to speed and Holland’s skewed attempt at a clearance dropping fortunately into Given’s arms.

The temperature had dropped as the sky clouded over, and Ireland resumed control although they lost Harte to what looked like cramp in both legs for the last quarter of an hour. Reid replaced him, playing on the right with Gary Kelly continuing to make an impact now at left back, his third position in the match. Surprisingly, the rest of the Irish players seemed to be lasting the pace better than their opponents and they were pressing for a late winner.

This almost came in the 83rd minute when a sweet volley from Keane cracked against Alioum’s left post following a panicky clearance after another Duff run. Most of the traffic was in the Cameroon half now, with the Africans happy to settle for a draw. Kinsella (subsequently named as RTÉ’s man of the match) had a drive blocked and the impressive Reid hit a fierce drive that Alioum was relieved to palm over.

Ultimately it was a great second half fight-back and a deserved point for Ireland. Cameroon’s second half decline might be related to their erratic preparations and late arrival in the Far East. But a more important factor was the spirited response of the Irish players to their own well-publicised problems. It is an element in the mix that makes soccer, even at this sophisticated level, so wonderfully unpredictable.

There is a simple example in the Sénégal-France upset. Sénégal’s first choice keeper Tony Sylva was Fabien Barthez’s deputy when the Frenchman was at Monaco. Barthez has been at Manchester United for two seasons now but, far from succeeding him, Sylva still languishes in Monaco’s reserves. In four seasons he has played just six first team games and his only consistent run in the French national league was 31 appearances on loan to unfashionable AC Ajaccio during the season before last. In theory Sylva has no right to be on the same pitch as Barthez, let alone achieve a confident shut-out against the world champions and finish on the winning side.

What’s the secret? Part lies in the nature of the game, impossible to tame by even the greatest coaches. Another clue may lie in the fact that Sénégal was a French colony as recently as 1960 and all their players ply their trade as second class citizens in the French national league. That’s the kind of motivation the Irish understand only too well.

Brian de Salvo

Teams
Ireland: Given; Kelly G, Breen, Staunton, Harte (Reid 76); McAteer (Finnan h/t), Kinsella, Holland, Kilbane; Keane, Duff
Cameroon: Alioum; Song, Kalla, Tchato; Geremi, Lauren, Foe, Olembe, Wome; Mboma (Suffo 69), Eto’o

Officials
Referee: Toru Kamikawa (Jpn)
Assistants: Mat Lazim Awang Amat (Mas), Roland Van Nylen (Bel)
Fourth: Peter Prendergast (Jam)

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