Milan Sime Martinic
They sat tense throughout the night game, but at the 93rd minute Cameroonian fans at an outdoor fan zone in the southwest coastal city of Douala exploded in a sudden little dance that turned into a shuffle and became joyous up-and-down jumps with fist pumps in the air with smiles breaking everywhere.
The dancing did not stop, even as fans headed home and filled the streets with cries of joy. Cameroon had just become the first African country ever to beat mighty Brazil in a World Cup game, and it was time to celebrate.
In the streets of the capital Yaoundé, some 4.5 hours inland, whistles, drums, dances, hats, vuvuzelas, horns, small green-red-and-yellow national flags and large ones worn as capes kept the joy and the flair imitating Cameroonian star Roger Milla’s iconic dance at the 1990 World Cup when Cameroon reached the quarter finals.
If samba had a worthy competitor for pure joy, this is it, a fitting celebration after beating Brazil. Car horns blew rhythmically and incessantly.
"It is a feeling right now of total excitement," Cameroonian entrepreneur Dema Deiga told THE WEEK as the country savored the victory.
"We are quite excited, quite happy about it. We are celebrating...We did not make it through the elimination round, but we had our own mini-final, we had a win, a draw, and a loss, and normally in any group we should have made it through."
The World Cup win for Cameroon came as the game ended and Brazil failed to find the net. Team captain striker Vincent Aboubakar scored the dramatic goal on a beautiful header, ending a 20-year World Cup victory drought for Cameroon.
The win was not enough to qualify Cameroon, and the team was eliminated.
"We did not make it through, but we beat Brazil, the second-best team on the planet., that is an unbelievable achievement," said Deiga. "So, we are taking it like a huge victory. And so, it is just total excitement over here. We are coming home, but we are happy, we are proud of our guys, they have done something that no African country has ever done ever, beat Brazil in a World Cup. We are celebrating."
The Cameroonian national team has a squad value of $163 million, while the Brazil squad has a value of $1.16 billion.
Having already qualified for the next round, Brazil gave its starter players a rest and gave the backbenchers some valuable World Cup experience.
Just the same, Cameroonians are very proud of what they see as a historic achievement. In fact, the pride extends to the entire continent. "My people please help us clap for these Cameroonians who make Africa proud," posted Nigerian fan Odidi Alhassan Yakubu. "Cameroon also becomes the first African country to not only beat Brazil, but also to stop them from scoring...Cameroon became the first country to stop Brazil from scoring this year. And they achieved all of this tonight."
Brazil is the only country to play in every World Cup. Its record is impressive: 74 victories in 110 games and only 18 losses, until they met Cameroon this year. In bars and restaurants in Brazil the usual post-game revelry was missing, some fans found it hard to take the loss as gray skies over its capital, Brasilia, resembled the mood.
Cameroon is the second African country to beat a cup favorite this year. Tunisia beat France 1-0. Saudi Arabia also beat Argentina, another favorite to take the cup, but all three teams were eliminated.
Ghana was also eliminated. Only Morocco and Senegal remain from the African contingent that started the 2022 cup.
Along the Cameroonian coast in Limbe, about an hour north from Douala, its main junction, Half-Mile Limbe, was full of celebrants well into the night. "Aboubakar helps Cameroon to break Brazil's unbeaten record," wrote Kenyan journalist Jøy Blessing Rashford on his social media. "The first African team to defeat Brazil at a world cup, history is made."