The Cameroon women’s national team has qualified for the final round of Tokyo Olympic qualifiers after beating Ivory Coast 2-1 in Yaounde.
Charlene Menene and Njoya Ajara scored the all-important goals for Cameroon in the return leg match played at Ahmadou Ahijo Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The Indomitable Lionesses nearly broke the deadlock in the first minute but Bawou Ange came rushing off her line to deny Nahi a goal.
The visitors created an opening of their own in the sixth minute when Rebecca Elloh rose highest to meet a cross from the right, however her header sailed inches over the crossbar.
Ten minutes later, Cameroon were afforded another goal-scoring chance following a goalmouth scramble inside the Les Elephants box, but Aboudi Onguena poked the ball straight at the keeper from close range.
The Lionesses took the lead just before the half-hour mark when Menene fired home from the edge of the area to make it 1-0.
Ivory Coast controlled the remainder of the half, but could not find an equalizer as the two sides entered the half time tunnel with the home side in the lead.
The Les Elephants had the first shot on goal in the second half with Jessica Aby unleashing a powerful 20-yard effort, but her attempt was spectacularly saved by the fingertips of Bawou Ange.
Ivory Coast were back in the contest in the 49th minute with Rebbeca Elloh slotting the ball home past Ange from close range.
Cameroon struggled to string passes together despite the front-foot, whilst the visitors maintained belief with balls into penetrative areas afterwards.
Les Elephants looked to have levelled two minutes later after Binta turned his marker to find the bottom corner, but the effort was flagged offside as frustration began to grow for the visitors.
On the other end, Menene should have doubled Cameroon’s lead when she was played through on goal by Raissa Feudjio, but she fired wide in a one-on-one with the keeper.
Njoya Ajara then netted a last-gasp winner deep in stoppage time when she rose to convert from the spot after being brought down inside the area
The wins sees Cameroon booking a date with Zambia in the final round qualifying to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while the runner up will face Chile in the playoff.
