Ghana co-hosted with their neighbours Nigeria as Cameroon won their 3rd title. It was a tournament that featured a host of stars like young Samuel Eto’o, Samuel Osei Kuffuor, Lucas Radebe, Nwankwo Kanu, Jay Jay Okocha, and Mustapha Hadji, among others.
Accra, Kumasi, Lagos and Kano were the cities that hosted the 16 teams.
1. 73 goals were scored in the competition, Shaun Bartlett finished as the top scorer with 5 goals.
Group A was certainly the group of death as Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo all had 4 points apiece but were separated by goal difference. Cameroon had +2, Ghana 0, Ivory Coast -1 and Togo had -1.
2. The group stage produced classic encounters as Ghana and Cameroon opened the competition with a 1-1 draw at the Accra Sports Stadium with Kwame Ayew in the 57th minute cancelling Vivien Foe’s 19th-minute opener.
Nigeria defeated Tunisia 4-2 in a match that Nwankwo Kanu recorded a hat trick of assists in Lagos.
Cameroon thrashed Ivory Coast 3-0 in Accra with Kalla, Eto’o and M’boma all scoring for the Indomitable Lions.
Morocco and Tunisia in group D in all North African affairs drew goalless in a feisty fixture in MD2.
Ivory Coast in front of 40,000 spectators at the Accra Sports Stadium beat Ghana 2-0 through Bonaventure Kalou and Donald-Olivier Sie’s second-half goals.
3. Quarter Finals
•Eto’o and Marc Vivien Foe’s first-half goals were enough to ensure Cameroon beat Algeria in Accra 2-1. Tasfaout’s 79th-minute goal was a mere consolation for the Algerians.
•Siyabonga Nomvethe silenced Kumasi Sports Stadium with his 42nd-minute strike that helped South Africa beat Ghana 1-0. This defeat led to Samuel Osei Kuffuor’s famous weeping in Kumasi as the report said no one was able to control his tears throughout the night.
•Khaled Badra’s 22nd-minute penalty for Tunisia eliminated Egypt in another North African derby as the Pharaohs lost 1-0.
•Julius Agahowa scored an 85th-minute equaliser for Nigeria after Fadiga had put Senegal ahead in the 7th minute sending the game to extra time. Agahowa scored the winner two minutes into the extra 30 minutes to help the Super Eagles qualify for the semi-finals.
Semi-finals
Tijani Babangida’s brace in the first half secured Nigeria’s ticket for the finals in a 2-0 win over South Africa.
Patrick Mboma scored the opener for Cameroon in the 49th minute as Eto’o doubled the lead in the 81st minute. Mboma finished off Tunisia with his second on the night in the 85th minute to record an impressive 3-0 win for Cameroon.
Finals
Nigeria came from 2 goals down to Eto’o and M’boma’s first-half strikes. Jay Jay Okocha and Raphael Chukwu scored in the 45th and 47th minute early in the second half for Nigeria. The game travelled to extra time but no goal was scored by either side hence a penalty shootout was required to determine the champion.
Kanu and Ikpeba missed as Okocha, Okpara and Oliseh scored for Nigeria.
Foe missed for Cameroon with M’boma, Wome, Geremi and Rigobert Song all scoring to ensure a 4-3 win for Pierre Lechantre’s Indomitable Lions in Lagos.
CAN 2000 has been one of the best AFCONs in recent years as stars were in action, classic encounters were witnessed and true champions emerged.
CAF Team of the Tournament
4-4-2
Goalkeeper
Nader El-Sayed (Egypt)
Defenders
Pape Malick Diop (Senegal)
Khaled Badra (Tunisia)
Rigobert Song ( Cameroon)
Mohamed Emara ( Egypt)
Midfielders
Bilel Dziri (Algeria)
Lauren (Cameroon)
Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)
Khalilou Fadiga (Senegal)
Forwards
Samuel Eto’o ( Cameroon)
Shaun Bartlet ( South Africa)
