Black Power Sends World No. 1 Soccer Packing

Cameroon beat the world No. 1 soccer team.

Cameroon stunned World Cup champion Brazil 1-0 on a goal by Samuel Eto`o late in the Confederation Cup match Thursday night at Saint-Denis, France.

Previously, Cameroon beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarterfinal of the Sydney Olympics 2002, when only players of 23 years or less played.

Brazil, missing several star players, rarely showed the fluidity and flair which brought its record fifth world title last year.

Samuel Eto`o contributed to the victory. Eto`o pounced on a defensive error and scored with eight minutes remaining. He sneaked off two Brazilian defenders, hesitated over the ball, then sent a thundering shot past goalkeeper Dida into the net from outside the box.

Cameroon coach Winfried Schaefer`s precise planning also contributed to the victory. Knowing the power of the Brazilian team, Schaefer has beefed up his team`s defense line. It was like the tactic used against Argentina in the Italy World Cup 1990, when Diego Maradona played for his mother country. At that time, Cameroon also stunned Argentina 1-0. "I don`t doubt they deserved the win because they had a good defense and they held Brazil well," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "We`ve got to look at what went wrong and change it."

Ronaldinho did not show much play, falling far short of what was expected. 5 matches after the World Cup last year, Brazil has won only one game.

Striker Tuncay Sanli celebrated his debut for Turkey by scoring the winner in a victory over the United States.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com