Nigeria v Cameroon
Nigeria (7) v (2) Cameroon
Bitter acrimony among the Nigerians after their controversial defeat to the home nation appeared to have settled down for this tie against Cameroon. Team officials had been furious at the refereeing decisions as they lost to Denmark but in truth the Africans had been undone by the extraordinary Copenhagen fans. Here there were no such distractions, and the hugely skillful Nigeria had free rein to show-off their many talents.
Tijani Isiaka was the star of the show, the Nigerian No.8 grabbing a hat-trick in the first half as his green-shirted team quickly built up an unassailable lead. Both the Nigerians and their Cameroon opponents have fine touch and a style of football ideally suited to this form of the game - the crowd may have been looking ahead to Denmark's crucial semi-final, but they were entranced by this sublime display of quick witted pass and move play.
Cameroon had given themselves a sniff of a chance as the first half drew to a close, nicking a late goal to make it 5-1 at the break. And they had another gilt-edged chance moments after the restart, only to be foiled by a fabulous last ditch save from the Nigeria keeper. A quick counter attack goal then sealed the win and even a late penalty from the big Cameroon No.4 couldn't spark an unlikely comeback.Joel Dimmock