It was a great day for Africa at the Beijing Olympics men’s football event Sunday, as Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire both recorded their first victories and stayed on course to advance to the next round.
Earlier, 1996 Olympics gold medallist Nigeria also recorded its first win, beating Japan 2-1 to maintain a joint lead with the US on four points in Group B.
Later, Cameroon pipped Honduras 1-0 and Cote d’Ivoire outplayed Serbia 4-2.
Shaking off its loss to Argentina in their first match, the Elephants poured in four goals through Sekou Cisse (3′), Slobodan Rajkovic (24′ Own Goal) Salomon Kalou (70′) and Gervinho (93′), while Serbia could only pull two back in a group A match in Shanghai
Serbia’s goals were scored by Miljan Mrdakovic (16′) and Djordje Rakic (90′)
Cote d’Ivoire is now second in group A on three points, behind Argentina on six, both from two matches.
And in a Group D match in Qinhuangdao, Cameroon waited for 74 minutes before registering a goal, through Stephen Mbia, to beat Honduras.
The Cameroonians, who drew their first match 1-1 with North Korea, are also second in their group, on four points, behind Italy with six.
The last pairings in the group stage will see Nigeria go against the US, Cameroon against Italy and Cote d’Ivoire against Australia on Wednesday.
