England v Cameroon

The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home

England v Cameroon

England Set Up Norwegian Quarter-Final

by Jeremy Ruane

England eased into a FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-final encounter with Norway on June 23, seeing off an at times tempestuous Cameroon 3-0 in front of 20,148 fans at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes.

"The Indomitable Lionesses" were fortunate not to be reduced to ten players just four minutes into the contest, Yvonne Leuko only receiving a yellow card from Chinese referee Qin Liang for elbowing Nikita Parris under the jaw.

After Aurelle Awona's vital clearance cut out a Toni Duggan cross following neat work by Fran Kirby and Parris, Kirby intercepted a Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene pass and sent Ellen White haring through the inside right channel, from where she whipped a cross to the far post for the incoming figure of Duggan.

The retreating Augustine Ejangue beat her to it, however, and played the ball back to Annette Ngo Ndom, who picked the ball up - a clear back-pass. Referee Liang duly called the offence, and Cameroon, frankly, lost the plot!

Amid the mayhem which ensued over the next couple of minutes, there was a hint of a spitting incident, while the entire Cameroon team took an eternity to understand that for a free-kick in the goal area, they couldn't stand any further forward than the goal-line itself.

Eventually order was restored amid the chaos, and Duggan rolled the free-kick back to Steph Houghton, who thrashed her shot through the gathered throngs and into the bottom far corner of the net.

A Duggan curler past the post in the twentieth minute notwithstanding, England dominated possession for the remainder of the half without carving out any noteworthy chances. That was until stoppage time at the end of the first half, when an errant raised flag for offside saw all hell break loose for those of a Cameroonian persuasion.

A delightful England move culminated in Lucy Bronze threading a pass through to White, who rifled the ball home from the edge of the penalty area. Up went the flag, however, and England's celebrations were curtailed.

Our old friend the Video Assistant Referee thought otherwise, however, and the footage revealed that while Parris was certainly in an offside position, she was nowhere near the active area of play, so the goal should therefore stand.

Referee Liang duly awarded it, and as England celebrated, Cameroon imploded, their fury evident for all the world to see. The referee had to take captain Aboudi Onguene aside and spell out the facts of life to her, in the circumstances, but to see an international team gathering in a circle debating whether they should continue playing in a match, at this level of the game, … not a good look! And that's being polite!

Play eventually resumed some three minutes after the goal had been awarded, and there were no further incidents before the half-time whistle. After play resumed, however …

Aboudi Onguene latched onto a pass from Yango down the left and fired in a cross which Ajara Nchout strode onto and simply smashed home past Millie Bright and the diving Karen Bardsley, only to have her celebrations curtailed by the VAR.

Cameroon's captain was marginally offside when latching onto Yango's pass, so the goal would not stand … and you can guess what happened next! Let's just say Nchout was not exactly the calmest person on the planet for the next couple of minutes …

She went ballistic! And her team-mates weren't far behind her. Coach Alain Djeumfa quite literally had to get Nchout in a bearhug and express some soothing words to her in an effort to get her to behave in a far more reasonable fashion than had been evident since her goal was ruled out. And once more, referee Liang had the task of talking to Aboudi Onguene about her team's antics - a tough day at the office for her!

A degree of order was soon restored, and Cameroon continued to channel their anger towards reducing the deficit. An under-hit Alex Greenwood back-pass was pounced on by substitute Alexandra Takounda just seconds after she had entered the fray, and only a superb block by Bardsley prevented the Cameroon striker from scoring in the 53rd minute.

Two minutes later, Takounda and Aboudi Onguene surged through onto a raking clearance, with the substitute lobbing the approaching figure of Bardsley. Greenwood raced back to clear, but alas for Cameroon, both players were offside, so had the ball entered the net, it wouldn't have counted.

When the ball next entered the net, it was at the other end of the park in the 58th minute, while Cameroon were reduced to ten players through injury. Ejangue was receiving treatment behind the goal when Duggan fired a corner in to a spot some twelve yards out from goal, in line with the near post, right where the unmarked figure of Greenwood was arriving - 3-0.

Cameroon's heads briefly dropped, and "The Lionesses" came close to scoring a fourth goal. White's lob of Ngo Ndom just cleared the crossbar after a nice move featuring Kirby and Duggan, but their opponents came roaring back, Jill Scott's tackle denying Nchout in the act of shooting, before Bardsley plunged to her right to keep out a fiercely struck Michaela Abam effort.

In the 69th minute, a teasing Scott cross was spilled by Ngo Ndom, and lurking England substitute Jodie Taylor latched onto the opportunity in a flash, setting up Kirby for what would have been a fourth goal had the outstanding Estelle Johnson - she's had a terrific tournament at the heart of Cameroon's rearguard - not intervened.

England continued to press for more goals, with Taylor skying an attempt fourteen minutes from time to conclude a move in which Ysis Sonkeng took out Kirby inside the area just before the trigger was pulled.

Referee Liang viewed the evidence as submitted by the VAR, but opted not to award a penalty, no doubt with half an eye on keeping the peace - there's no knowing what depths Cameroon would plumb if they found reason to lose the plot temperamentally again.

Keira Walsh sent Parris marauding down the right ten minutes from time, from where she fired in a low cross which had the incoming Taylor's name written all over it, until Ngo Ndom appeared on the scene.

Cue a Cameroon riposte, with Bardsley smothering the danger following a raid by Aboudi Onguene and Takounda, to which England responded via a Lucy Staniforth ball forward which allowed Taylor to lob the approaching figure of Ngo Ndom, only for Johnson to get back and execute a goal-line clearance in the 82nd minute.

Cameroon came again, Bardsley snuffing out a Ninon Abena shot before a driven Sonkeng cross careered across the six-yard box - it only needed a touch - and Yango burst through three challenges in the area, only to lose her footing at the vital moment.

There was probably a bit of 'justice served' for Yango on this occasion, for she had given referee Liang a hefty shove in the back earlier in the half as she attempted to close down Kirby. Once again, the official opted to keep the peace rather than make an issue of the incident.

Sadly, the tone Cameroon had adopted temperament-wise continued right until the end, with Takounda taking out Houghton in nasty fashion after the ball had gone, right in front of the dugouts.

England coach Phil Neville didn't hide his concern for his player, nor his anger over the incident, but he was meekness personified compared to the way Aboudi Onguene behaved in the aftermath of Takounda's tackle - she was raging!

How referee Liang didn't book Cameroon's captain as well as the offender Lord alone knows, this after the VAR suggested that the substitute be sent off for the offence. What must be remembered with the VAR process is that the ultimate decision lies with the match referee, and on this occasion, the Chinese whistle-blower erred on the side of caution, literally.

The final whistle soon sounded, sending England through to a quarter-final encounter with Norway in four days' time. Cameroon, however, head for home, and on their behaviour in this match, there won't be too many who'll regret their departure.

One person deserves special mention in this match, and that's the referee. Qin Liang's handling of this very challenging assignment was highly commendable, and her use of tact and diplomacy at the right moments ensured that, somehow, the game finished with 22 players on the park - not many would have expected that to be the case after the various incidents which disrupted this at times tempestuous encounter.

England: Bardsley; Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Greenwood; Walsh, Kirby, Scott (Staniforth, 78); Parris (Williamson, 84), White (Taylor, 64), Duggan

Cameroon: Ngo Ndom; Leuko (booked, 4), Ejangue (Sonkeng, 64), Johnson, Awona; Nchout, Abam (Abena, 58), Feudjio, Yango, Aboudi Onguene; Enganamouit (Takounda, 53 (booked, 90)

Referee: Qin Liang (China)

Knockout Matches