2012 Nehru Cup: Syria hold Cameroon to 2-2 draw

In the first surprise of the 2012 Nehru Cup the highly rated Cameroonians were held to a two-all draw by Syria in the third match of the tournament this evening at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. With this draw both sides are now on one point though Syria has played a match more, their opening day loss to India.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium sported once more heavy underfoot conditions, which caused more problems for the Africans then the west Asians who had the experience of the match against India under their belt.

Still Cameroon were the better side in the initial exchanges and took a deserving 17th lead when Kingue Mpondo's powerful header went in following a corner after Syria's experienced keeper Mosab Balhous made an excellent save and cleared for a corner following a free-kick from Ebanga Bertin. Though the Africans looked more polished in their game it was Syria who were fighting to stay in the match and then in the 40th minute Alaa Al Shbli headed in a free-kick like he did in the opener against India.

Cameroon will surely not have been happy with the one-all scoreline at the breather and seven minutes into the second half were ahead again through a Ebanga Martin penalty after Kologny Vigny Merime was brought down by Mosab Balhous in the area. But on this way Syria was not beaten as the west Asians took charge of the game and tried to get the equaliser. They got their reward in the 79th minute when Ouday Abduljaffal equalised and it would stay this way until the end.

A surprise result then most would have expected this Cameroon team made-up of only local players to beat the Syrians. This opens-up the group and now makes it more interesting over the next week.