AFCON memories: Cameroon's shootout victory over Nigeria

My favourite AFCON memory harks back to the year 2000 when Ghana and Nigeria co-hosted. To say it was a challenge to watch this competition is an understatement! This marked the era before internet streams and mass football broadcasting in North America.

As recent immigrants to Canada, my family carried over our footballing passion but were faced with few avenues to keep it nourished. This meant less football viewing on weekends, but this was a final with two of Africa’s footballing giants in Nigeria and Cameroon.

A well-established diaspora network allowed us to get our hands on the prized VHS recording of the final, two days after it was played. Alhamdullilah for the complete lack of interest in African football from Canadian sports media at the time. It meant we could rest easy knowing there was little chance the result could be spoiled.

The final with a top-billing did not disappoint. Dazzling technique, goals, intrigue, and controversy. It had it all! The scoresheet was opened by a young teenage prodigy, one Samuel Eto’o Fils, and Cameroon quickly stormed to a surprising 2-0 lead over the favoured Super Eagles.

It seemed as though the tide had turned and only a crossbar stopped the Indomitable Lions from asserting their dominance. Yet, this was only the beginning of the show played before a delighted sell-out crowd in Bamako.

The Super Eagles, ushered on by the sound of blaring trumpets, quickly drew level with two goals, including a stunning strike from the legendary Jay-Jay Okocha. Wide-open back and forth play could not break the deadlock and 120 minutes of nail-biting drama had to be settled by the random cruelty of penalty-kicks.

What followed is very familiar to all Super Eagles supporters. A well struck Victor Ikepba spot-kick ricocheted off the top of the cross-bar back to the ground, tantalizingly close to the goal-line.

At first glance through the grainy Arab Radio and Television Network recording it appeared as though Ikepba missed a golden chance. But a replay clearly showed that the ball had crossed the line! A decade before Frank Lampard, the first famous justification for the use of goal line technology could be found.

To this day, many are convinced that long-time CAF autocrat Issa Hayatou (CAF’s Cameroonian “life president”) was behind the missed call. The late Marc-Vivien Foe missed his chance to lift the Indomitable Lions to glory, but captain Rigobert Song did not hesitate to put it away and claim the first trophy in a golden year for Cameroonian football.

Recent developments have made AFCON viewing much simpler on this side of the Atlantic. This year the competition will be carried by a network available on cable TV, a development that I would never foresee 15 years ago. Despite this, nostalgia ensures that the 2000 final continues to rank above all. Let’s hope Equatorial Guinea 2015 comes close!