Rep of Ireland 1 - 1 Cameroon | Football
World Cup 2002Rep of Ireland 1 - 1 Cameroon
Holland 51Mboma 38@bglendenning
Sat 1 Jun 2002 07.51 EDT First published on Sat 1 Jun 2002 07.51 EDT
94 mins Full-time.
After a sluggish first half, Ireland put in a magnificent performance to earn themselves a priceless point against the African champions. A superb effort in light of the Roy Keane debacle. He wouldn't be happy with this draw and would probably argue that Ireland should have taken all three points. Depending on how this group pans out, his former team-mates could yet come around to his way of thinking. For the time being, however, it's simply a case of Roy who?
92 mins Four minutes of stoppage time to be played - so two left. Cameroon have a throw in the Irish half. Geremi takes and Kilbane and Kelly clear between them. Song shoots from outside the box and puts it high and wide.
90 mins Kelly crosses to Keane in the box who finds Reid. Ireland really have Cameroon under the cosh in the closing stages. Kinsella has a pop from outside the box which is blocked.
88 mins Staunton wins the ball well and Duff does brilliantly to escape Kalla. Kalla brings him down and gets booked. Free for Ireland to the left of the D about 12 yards outside the Cameroon box. Kelly rolls it to Reid, who shoots and brings a good save out of Alioum.
84 mins Ireland turn the screw. Kinsella has a shot blocked by Song. Duff is fouled and Ireland have a free on the left wing. Kelly swings one in and Cameroon clear for a throw-in. Steven Reid takes and after some good work to keep the ball in play, Finnan is penalised for no apparent reason.
82 mins Keane hits the post with a beautiful strike which he curled around the keeper from just outside the box, who was helpless. The move came about as a result of good work on the left wing by Duff. Unlucky Ireland.
81 mins Steven Reid becomes the third Irishman to get booked, for a late challenge. Cameroon are definitely having the better of it at the moment, but both sides are less than clinical in the final third of the field.
79 mins Keane is given a present of the ball in the Cameroon box and dithers over it in front of goal. Tchato makes an excellent recovery.
77 mins Irish substitution: Steven Reid for Ian Harte. Gary Kelly takes over from his uncle on the left wing, and Reid slots into Kelly's position on the right. Cameroon attack but Mattie Holland tidies up at the back.
75 mins Cameroon attack and Steve Staunton, bless him, wreaks more unintentional havoc in his own penalty area. Much of the defending by both sides has been suicidal, to say the least, with Messrs Song and Staunton being the main culprits.
72 mins Ian Harte is down injured so Lauren reluctantly puts the ball out. Harte goes off on a stretcher so the Irish physio Mick Byrne can treat him. Almost immediately he returns to the field. He seems okay.
70 mins Cameroon win a corner, from which Ireland get a free-out for pushing in the box. Cameroon are starting to look a bit lively again.
67 mins Eto'o puts a good shooting opportunity wide under pressure from Finnan. Cameroon prepare to make a substitution. Suffo for Mboma. Suffo was one of the players involved in the battle of Bramell Lane last season, if memory serves me correctly.
65 mins Ireland are starting to dominate. Duff gets the ball in the Cameroon box and wins a corner. Harte takes and Breen gets his head to it. Over the bar.
61 mins Did you know that Cameroon's coach Winfried Schaeffer is a qualified assistant train driver? Me neither. Ireland win a free in midfield when Kilbane is brought down. The ball is crossed in, headed down into the six-yard box and Song almost scores an own goal, again, this with his arm. Alioum saves him again, barely keeping the ball from crossing the line and Robbie Keane screams for a penalty. A let-off for Song and Cameroon again.
59 mins Finnan and Ian Harte combine well on the right wing to win a corner for Ireland. Given needs attention on a knock he picked up from the last Cameroon corner. He's okay. Harte takes the corner for Ireland. The goalkeeper comes for it and loses it. Kalla hacks clear.
57 mins Cameroon attack up the right wing. Kilbane takes the ball off Geremi with a good tackle. Ball goes back out to Geremi who almost scores from the wing with a speculative lob. Given concedes a corner which he subsequently collects.
51 mins GOAL: Rep of Ireland 1 - 1 Cameroon Song fluffs a clearance and Holland shoots from just outside the D. It was a brilliant finish - a low, hard drive past Alioum into the bottom, left-hand corner. Beautiful. A magnifcent start to the second half by Ireland.
50 mins Finnan gets a yellow card for throwing the ball away after conceding a free kick. Cameroon attack, with Mboma getting a cross into the box which finds nobody. A terrible mistake by Harte results in Geremi getting a shooting opportunity.
47 mins Ireland have started brightly with Finnan making an immediate impact, getting in too good crosses. Harte gets one in from the right and Kilbane gets a glancing header. A good opportunity but he puts it wide.
46 mins Irish substitution: Steve Finnan on for Jason McAteer. Finnan goes in at right-back and Gary Kelly moves up to the right side of midfield. Ireland kick off and win a throw. Harte puts in a long one but Alioum collects.
Half-time
45 mins Cameroon have a corner. It's swung in and McAteer heads to Duff who clears.
44 mins Duff wins a free on the wing, outside the Cameroon box. Harte fires it in low and hard and Alioum pulls off a brilliant save to prevent Song scoring an own goal. Ireland were desperately unlucky.
42 mins Mboma puts a spectacular volley over the bar.
38 mins GOAL: Rep of Ireland 0 - 1 Cameroon Eto'o makes a monkey of Steve Staunton on the byeline, skips into the Irish penalty area and pulls it back to Mboma who slots it home from about five yards. Mattie Holland and Gary Kelly frantically try to keep it out but to no avail. Steve Staunton was badly at fault. Mboma couldn't hit a barn door for Sunderland in the last few months but he scores here.
35 mins Eto'o wins a corner after a Breen mistake. The ball is crossed in and Staunton concedes another corner after challenging Song in the air. Keane clears and Cameroon concede a throw inside the Irish half.
31 mins: Eto'o tries a delicate lob/cross type effort which goes wide. Two Cameroon players run into each other and clash heads. After receiving attention they're okay.
29 mins Jason McAteer gets booked for pulling at Olembe's hand as he ran past him. A bit harsh, perhaps.
27 mins Duff and Kilbane combine to win a corner. Keane, Kilbane, Breen and Duff gather in the area and Harte takes. Holland steams in, gets his head on it but puts it over the bar.
22 mins Unless I'm very much mistaken, the Irish supporters are singing "Are you watching Roy Keane?" Hardly. He's probably out walking the dog. Or if he's any sense he's still in bed. This is a ridiculous hour of the day to be watching football.
21 mins Ireland take a short corner. McAteer passes to Kilbane who puts a beautiful cross in. Keane steals between two defenders and puts his header a whisker wide. Great opportunity - should have done better.
19 mins The Cameroon chance, the best of the game so far, came after some Irish pressure that had seen Robbie Keane test Kalla with a speculative shot from a free he'd won himself after being brought down by Wome. Ireland win a corner which McAteer takes. Alioum takes it well. The ref has a word with Alioum for engaging in a bit of afters. Ireland win another corner.
18 mins Eto'o is put through one on one with Given and the Irish keeper comes out and pulls off a terrific, brave save. Corner Cameroon. Nothing comes of it.
15 mins After a cautious start, Ireland are starting to look a bit more confident, probing and passing. Gary Kelly pumps a long ball into the Cameroon box trying to find Robbie Keane. He's held off the ball and Kalla collects. Keane shouts for a penalty, but it'd be a generous ref would give him one for that.
11 mins Mboma engages in a bit of flagrant fancy-dannery which looks quite impressive but results in him conceding possession. Duff takes on Song and Wome near the corner flag but has no support and loses possession. Robbie Keane wins it back and finds McAteer. Gary Kelly overlaps on the wing but McAteer concedes a throw in his attempt to pick him out.
10 mins A mix-up in the Irish defence results in Staunton conceding a corner. It's curled in and Given takes it comfortably.
8 mins Duff concedes a free in midfield but Ireland win possession. Holland heads to Kilbane, who is offside.
5 mins Cameroon throw-in. Geremi takes. Duff wins possession and the Irish supporters immediately get excited. Duff loses the ball in midfield and Holland takes the ball from Foe with a crunching tackle. Throw for Cameroon parallel to Irish penalty area, Wome takes. Ball ends up back with Kalla in the Cameroon defence.
2 mins An early cross from Gary Kelly enables Kilbane to get behind Geremi and attempt a shot. He doesn't make Alioum work for the save. Lauren threads a through-ball through the Irish defence for Tchato but it's too far away from him to collect it or make anything of it.
1 min Ireland wear their usual green strip, while Cameroon line out in white shirts with black skintight sleeves and red shorts. Thank God they're wearing sleeves, for a change - something for the Irish defenders to hang on to. Staunton and Song exchange pennants, the teams shake hands and Ireland go into a big huddle. Cameroon kick off playing right to left. Kilbane immediately concedes a free in midfield for handball. He then blocks the free and Song concedes a throw.
Teams
Rep of Ireland: Given, Gary Kelly, Breen, Staunton, Harte, McAteer, Holland, Kilbane, Kinsella, Duff, Robbie Keane.
Cameroon: Alioum, Kalla, Wome, Song, Lauren, Geremi, Eto'o, Foe, Olembe, Tchato, Mboma.
Referee: T Kamikawa (Japan)
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