Nine-man Cameroon shock Brazil, enter semis

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Brisbane: Nine-man Cameroon scored one of the biggest upsets in Olympic soccer history when they beat gold medal favourites Brazil 2-1 in an astonishing quarter-final on Saturday to clinch a place in Tuesday's semifinals.

The winning golden goal came from substitute Modeste Mbami in the 113th minute when he cracked a scorching right foot drive from the edge of the box past Brazilian keeper Helton.

Cameroon had looked dead and buried going into the extra period after skipper Geremi Njitap had been sent off after 75 minutes and defender Aaron Nguimbat followed him in the last minute of regular time for tripping Brazilian captain Alex.

That foul gave away the free kick, which led to Brazil's equaliser from Ronaldinho. Cameroon had taken the lead though Patrick Mboma after 17 minutes and were only 12 seconds from the end of the match when Brazil, chasing a first ever Olympic soccer gold, equalised.

Ronaldinho, who had another quiet match after a run of poor games in the group stages, finally made his mark on the tournament, scoring with a right foot free kick, which gave 16-year-old keeper Carlos Kameni no chance.

The teenager, preferred to normal first choice Daniel Bekono, had an outstanding game for the African side, producing a series of excellent saves.Brazil never looked comfortable against a team inspired by Kameni's heroics in goal, a tenacious display from Lauren in midfield and driving performance from Mboma up front.

While Cameroon go to Melbourne for a semi-final against Chile, Brazilian coach Wanderley Luxemburgo faces an uncertain future. He was under huge pressure to win this tournament to secure his position following Brazil's indifferent start to their World Cup campaign and his failure will most probably cost him his job.

(c) Reuters Limited.