The teams in Group D prepared to play their games today with all four of them still having a chance to qualify for the Quarter Finals. Surprise group leaders Gabon were up against Zambia whilst disappointing group favorites Cameroon played Tunisia.
Gabon didn’t need much from their match against Zambia but the Zambians needed everything and that’s what they looked to take when Kalaba put them in front after twenty-eight minutes. His lovely dink over the Goalkeeper gave them the hope they needed as they looked for the three points necessary to progress.
Cameroon needed to win or draw against Tunisia and to their horror they found themselves 1-0 down within the first minute when Chermiti put Tunisia ahead. Cameroon dominated after that and seemed to have an endless supply of possession, but they couldn’t do anything with it and as half-time was signaled in these concurrent matches, Zambia and Tunisia were the ones who were heading through to the Quarter Finals as it stood.
In the second half the Cameroon game changed course almost instantly when Eto’o found the net and grabbed a vital equalizer. Twenty minutes later Cameroon had a nightmare in defense and Chedjou headed the ball over his own Goalkeeper to give Tunisia the lead, whilst, at the same time, Zambia extended their lead over Gabon when Chamanga tapped the ball into an empty net. Cameroon then ended what was a frantic two minutes in this group when N’Guemo scored to square things up again on sixty-four minutes.
With ten minutes left to play in both games, Tunisia struggled to get back against Cameroon whilst Gabon pulled a goal back against Zambia with Marcolino scoring to make it 2-1. Jemal then got his second yellow card for Tunisia and they were reduced to ten men against Cameroon as this group reached its climax.
Zambia held off a late fight from Gabon to hold onto their victory and go through, with Cameroon following them a couple of minutes later with their 2-2 draw enough to send them through.
Zambia will now play Nigeria in the Quarter Finals whilst Cameroon will be up against a very strong Egyptian side.
