Iconic Moments in Football No.34
This week’s iconic moment comes from the 1990 World Cup between holders Argentina and Cameroon in the opening game of the tournament.
The Argentinians were expected to do well in the tournament, having beaten West Germany in the Final four years previously in Mexico.
Diego Maradona was the player to watch and had been the player of the tournament in Mexico. He was also playing his club football in Italy at the time for Napoli.
Meanwhile, Cameroon were rank outsiders for the tournament. They had only appeared in one World Cup before, eight years before at Spain ’82.
They were 5,000-1 to lift the World Cup and people were guessing how many goals Argentina would put past the African minnows. No one expected what would happen next.
After a goalless first half, Cameroon went down to ten men after Andre Kana-Biyik was given a straight red just after the hour mark. The Argentinians couldn’t take advantage of having an extra man and fell behind after 67 minutes.
Francois Oman-Biyik headed Cameroon into a shock lead with a weak header that Argentine goalkeeper Nery Pumpido could only parry into the net. In truth, it was easy for the Argentine keeper but he made a real mess of it but the underdogs couldn’t care less.
Striker Claudio Caniggia came on at half-time for Argentina and became the target of several fouls from the Cameroonian defence.
In the final minute of the game, Caniggia took the ball 30 yards from his own goal and began running full-speed to try and salvage a late equaliser.
Just before he reached the halfway line, Emile Mbouh started to move towards Caniggia but pulled out of making a challenge when it became apparent that the Argentine was too fast for him. Mbouh was already on a yellow card and he would surely get a second yellow if he brought Caniggia down.
As Caniggia advanced further down the pitch, a second Cameroon player came racing in to try an dispossess him. He kicked out wildly and sent the Argentine stumbling who somehow managed to stay on his feet.
It was at this point that Benjamin Massing (who was also on a yellow card) came careering in and smashed into Caniggia, sending the Argentine crashing to the floor.
Massing was nowhere near the ball and was given a second yellow card. The collision was so fierce that it catapulted Massing’s right boot into the air! Perhaps the only thing that was surprising about the whole incident was that Massing wasn’t given a straight red card for the foul.
Argentina went on to reach the Final before losing to West Germany. Cameroon exceeded all expectations by reaching the Quarter-Finals, losing 3-2 to England after leading 2-1 at one stage in the match.
The succession of challenges and resulting foul on Caniggia remain one of the most memorable moments of the match.
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