It was fitting end to the quarter-final round. Four times champions Cameroon versus champions from 2004 Tunisia. The two teams served up a five goal thriller that needed thirty minutes of extra time to determine the winner
Cameroon started off the brighter and five minutes in, an excellent cross from Geremi Njitap found Jean Makoun whose header went narrowly wide. Tunisia where not completely out of the game and Yassine Chikhaoui capitalise on an error by Geremi to break into the Cameroon defence but was unable to trouble Idriss Kameni in goal. Cameroon were soon to gain an upper hand when Alexander Song’s cross into the eighteen was completely missed by Hamdi Karoui in the Tunisian goal leaving Stephane Mbia with an easy header to take Cameroon ahead.
Cameroon were not done with scoring and seven minutes later Geremi unleashed a beautifully taken free-kick after a foul by Chaouki Ben Saada, completely beating Karoui and taking Cameroon two nil up.
With a two goal advantage, Cameroon dropped back into a defensive mode, content to absorb the Tunisian striking forays. This proved to be a risky strategy as in the 41st minute Tunisia came close to scoring twice, first was a long range shot from Silva dos Santos that rattled the upright before ricocheting off to Ben Saada whose low drive was superbly stopped by Kameni in the Cameroonian goal
The rest of the half saw Tunisia looking more composed and purposeful with Tunisian striker Chikhaoui using his bulk to create problems. Tunisia’s breakthrough however came from Ben Saada gave a master class in free kick taking as his left foot struck ball was whipped into the top corner of the net and left Kameni rooted to the spot. Tunisia was back in the game
The second half carried on from where the first had ended, Tunisia probing, Cameroon defending and looking to break out on the counter attack. The narrow lead is finally undone by a loss of concentration by veteran defender Rigobert Song who lets a ball roll out for a corner instead of clearing. With possession conceded to the Tunisians, they are able to build a move that sees Chikhaoui meet an accurate cut-back to lash the ball past Idriss Carlos Kameni from 15 yards and the match rolls into the extra time, for the first time in the tournament.
Cameroon having thrown away a two goal lead rediscover their attacking instinct and a throw in by Geremi and nod on by Jean Epelle sets up Mbia to lash home his second and Cameroon’s third. This time the Cameroonians are not prepared to let their lead slip and despite enormous pressure by the Tunisians in the final minutes, Cameroon hold on for a famous victory and a semi-final clash against Ghana