Cameroon Wins One for Books : World Cup: The Lions’ 1-0 victory over defending champion Argentina in the tournament opener ranks with the sport’s greatest upsets.
The opening game of the World Cup Friday was at the beautifully renovated Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan’s San Siro section, but the result was the same as if it had been at the Roman Colosseum 2,000 years ago: the Lions won.
Cameroon’s national team is known at home as the Indomitable Lions. Indomitable they were in a 1-0 victory over soccer’s supreme gladiator, Diego Maradona, and defending champion Argentina.
According to some of the sport’s experts, the result will rank among the World Cup’s greatest upsets, along with the United States’ 1950 victory over England and North Korea’s 1966 victory over Italy.
In fact, it was not entirely unpredictable, although the manner in which it was accomplished was unorthodox. Cameroon ended the game playing two men short, a circumstance bound to find its place in the sport’s lore.
Dedicating the goal he scored in the 66th minute to Cameroon President Paul Biya, one of five heads of state in attendance, forward Francois Omam Biyik said: “This is the best day of my life. We have contributed to the ambience of football.”
They also brought euphoria to most of the 73,780 fans, who celebrated as if it were a victory for host Italy.
In a sense, it was. As the favorite, Italy cannot be disappointed to see another contender falter, although there is still much soccer to be played before the champion is determined in Rome July 8.
But it is just as likely that the fans were reacting to the rare sight of a humbled Maradona, who plays for Naples, the arch-rival of Milan’s two teams in the Italian League.
Still smarting from watching Maradona lead Naples to the league championship this season, they whistled in derision each time he touched the ball.
So, it seemed, did the referee, Michael Vautrot of France.
His mission was to protect Maradona from the Lions, who not only clawed but kicked and tripped.
Vautrot did everything he could to discourage Cameroon’s tactics. Apparently taking to heart the International Federation of Assn. Football’s directive to strictly enforce the rules in an attempt to make the game safe again for finesse players, he called 30 fouls against Cameroon, including 12 for infractions committed against Maradona.
Vautrot also sent off two Cameroon players for rough play. Before Friday, no player had been disqualified from a World Cup opener since 1938.
Vautrot tried to set the tone early, handing out a yellow card to Maradona’s defender, Benjamin Massing, in the ninth minute. Before the game was over, Vautrot had dispensed four other cards, three to Cameroon players.
Massing, the team’s best defender, got a red card in the 88th minute, resulting in his automatic disqualification from the final two minutes of this game as well as the entire next game.
In the 62nd minute, Vautrot had also expelled defender Andre Kana Biyik with a red card for tackling Argentina’s Claudio Caniggia from behind on a breakaway. Players sent off cannot be replaced.
Despite playing a man short, Cameroon broke the scoreless tie shortly thereafter when Kana’s younger brother scored on a header.
The goal was the result of a free kick into the middle of the penalty area that was headed straight into the air by Thomas Makanaky. When it came down, Omam Biyik headed it through the fingers of goalkeeper Alberto Pumpido and into the right side of the net.
Because the clocks have been turned off on the scoreboards at the 12 stadiums for the World Cup, Cameroon’s players constantly seemed to be looking at their bench for an indication of the time remaining.
“That was the longest time of my life,” Omam Biyik said.
That must have been particularly true of the final two minutes, when Cameroon played with only nine men because of Massing’s expulsion.
But the greater the odds grew against the Cameroon players, colorfully attired in red shorts, yellow socks and green jerseys with lions over their hearts, the more tenacious they became.
The score could easily have been 2-0 because the next-best chance for a score also belonged to Cameroon.
Twenty-two minutes into the game, Makanaky received a pass in the penalty area and had only to beat Pumpido for a goal. The goalkeeper managed to cut down the angle, preventing Makanaky from getting a good strike at the ball. But it was on the verge of dribbling into the goal until defender Nestor Lorenzo swept through the penalty area to clear it.
According to the official statistics, Cameroon took 10 shots to five for Argentina and controlled the ball 53% of the time.
The Lions took more pity on Maradona after the game than they did during it.
“I’m sad for Maradona,” Omam Biyik said. “He did not show his greatness, but I hope he does in the other games.”
Although he was later gracious in congratulating Cameroon, Maradona at first refused to accept the fact that his team was outplayed.
“I don’t think Cameroon deserved it because we made too many mistakes,” he said. “We had many opportunities to go up to the goal, but they were stopping us often with fouls. So what can you do?”
Asked to comment on Cameroon’s tactics, he said, “They didn’t hurt me.”
But they might have severely damaged Argentina’s chances to repeat. The defending champions probably need at least a victory and a tie in their next two games at Naples against the Soviet Union and Romania, both good teams, just to advance to the second round.
Argentina has not been impressive since 1986, only recently ending a losing streak that lasted for more than a year.
Cameroon also has been in turmoil because the players are less than fond of their Siberian coach, Valeri Nepomniachi. He speaks only Russian, and the players speak either French or English. A chauffeur for the Soviet Embassy in Cameroon serves as his interpreter.
Even so, Cameroon is no stranger to World Cup success. In their only other appearance in 1982, the Lions played three scoreless ties, including one against eventual champion Italy, and began Friday’s game as the only team in World Cup history without a loss.
About 100 English soccer fans clashed with police late Friday night on a main street in the center of Cagliari, Sardinia, police said.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported that police efforts to clear the fans from the street were met by a hail of beer bottles, stones and cans.
Some of the English fans were bruised in the clash with police who sealed off the area and cleared the street, ANSA said. No injuries to police were reported.
England opens World Cup play against Ireland Monday.
