Africa Cup of Nations Day 11
Samuel Eto'o breaks Laurent Pokou's Scoring Record
Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o scored twice to help Cameroon into the quarter finals and breaks Laurent Pokou's record of 14 Nations Cup goals.
Cameroon were always expected to beat Sudan but took the best part of half an hour to take the lead, Eto'o converting a spot kick before Mohamed Ali El Khider put through his own net six minutes later. That goal made history as it was his 15th Nations Cup goal, a milestone he had been widely tipped to reach during the tournament.
Eto'o's penalty broke Ivorian Laurent Pokou's long-standing record Nations Cup tally of 14 and he would add another in the last minute, calmly slotting past El Moez after racing onto Joël Epalle's through ball.
The late goal was hard on a Sudan side who had shown good spirit in the second half. Indeed, for long periods they had seriously threatened to put past Carlos Kameni but Cameroon's defence, marshalled by stalwart Rigobert Song, held firm.
Sudan leave Ghana with three defeats and no goals scored but for their country even to have a team at the tournament is a remarkable achievement itself considering their paltry resources and the ongoing troubles in the Darfur region.
And their presence at Eto'o's record-breaking moment was fitting, for Sudan won the 1970 tournament in which Pokou completed his collection of 14 Nations Cup goals.
Their qualification ended thirty-two years of non-participation in the African championship and will please the purists as Sudan, along with Egypt and Ethiopia, were competitiors in the first ever Nations Cup back in 1957.
Cameroon proceed to the quarter finals but it is Egypt who win the group, despite conceding a late equalizer to Zambia's striker Chris Katongo.
Amr Zaky, a scorer in their 2006 semi final win over Senegal, stylishly volleyed Egypt into the lead after a quarter of an hour but Zambia played well and equalized with two minutes remaining when Katongo calmly cut inside Ahmed Fathy to fire inside the near post.
Zambia will be disappointed not to qualify after their convincing opening game win over Sudan but their failure can be pinned on some wretched defensive errors that caused them to lose 5-1 to Cameroon.
Holders Egypt have impressed in Group C and Zaky's volley was another fine goal following Zidan's breakaway strike and stunning long-range left-foot effort in the 4-2 win over Cameroon on Day 3. Although the western African sides have been the favourites due to Ghana hosting the tournament, Egypt and Tunisia are showing that the northern nations are still forces to be reckoned with.
Full results and tables can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/default.stm.
Results
CAMEROON 3 (Eto'o pen 28', 90', El Khider o.g 34') SUDAN 0
ZAMBIA 1 (C. Katongo 88') EGYPT 1 (Zaky 15')
