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The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon came from three goals down beat the Stallions of Burkina Faso on penalties to clinch Bronze medal at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Burkina threw away a healthy 3-0 lead in the second half as they crumbled at the crucial moments of the match to go empty handed.
Cameroon made changes to their team as fringe players were brought in to start the game against their West African brothers.
On the 24th minute of the match, Issa Kabore whipped in a cross from the right side of attack into the path of Steeve Yago at the far post to slot home the first goal of the match to put the Stallions in the lead.
Two minutes to the end of the first 45 minutes, AFC Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper who will be joining Inter Milan at the end of the season, Andre Onana scored a bizarre own goal when Kabore’s shot across the face of goal came off his chest to make it 2-0 before the break.
Four minutes after the break, captain of the Stallions, Bertrand Traore was found unmarked at the far right and sent in a delicious ball into the box which was headed home nicely by Djibril Ouattara to make it 3-0.
Cameroon responded with quick changes as Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko Ekambi and Nicolas Ngadaleu were all thrown onto the field.
Eighteen minutes to the end of the match, Stéphane Bahoken reduced the deficit for the host nation with a close range finish following a corner kick.
The Lions started roaring and the tournament’s top scorer Aboubakar scored with a beautiful header from another corner kick to set up a grand style finish to the game.
Three minutes later Aboubakar pounced on another poor goalkeeping by Farid Ouedraogo to snatch the equalizer on the 88th minutes minutes – the goalkeeper who was crushed by his own player following a slit push by Aboubakar could not continue and was replaced by third choice goalie Aboubakar Sawadogo.
The game was settled on penalties after a pulsating 3-3 draw and the host exorcise the ghost in them to win 5-3 penalty shootout to win the consolation price at the end of the match.
Onana saved Ibrahim Blati Toure’s penalty as his team mates scored all their spot kicks to win the game and break the hearts of Burkinabes.
Senegal and Egypt will bring the curtains down tomorrow at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde as they compete for the gold medal at 19h00 GMT.
By: D. N. A. MENSAH, Daily Mail GH
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