Brazilians had an awful deja-vu of entering extra-time of the Olympic men's soccer quarterfinals with Cameroon, but they avoid repeating history with two late goals on Saturday.
Forward Rafael Sobis' flicker in the 101st minute was enough to relieve the Brazilians from the nerve-wracking match, and defender Marcelo's winner four minutes later sealed their berth in the semis, where they are going to take on either the Netherlands or Argentina.
In Brazil's last Olympic appearance at the 2000 Games in Sydney, a team containing a young Ronaldinho was knocked out in extra time at the quarterfinal stage by eventual champion Cameroon.
But a reviving Ronaldinho assisted in the second goal with his spot pass, and cheerfully put on a samba dance with his teammates after the ball hit the back of the net.
"Eight years ago we lose to Cameroon in the Olympics with the same situation in the extra time," said Marcelo. "Today we took revenge on them. We erased the past. I'm very happy we won the game."
"I'm confident about the next game, I'm looking forward to winning," he added.
"It was a tough game, as in every time we play against Cameroon," said coach Dunga. "They had strong marking and the good circulation of the ball."
Dunga replaced AC Milan's striking prodigy Alexdandre Pato with Sobis in the starting lineup. He told the post-game press conference that the reason is that he thought Sobis was more suitable to play the game
"We knew this game would be physical. Cameroon have a strong defence. It's not that I chose the players, they chose themselves," the coach said.
Forward Serge Ngal nearly pulled one back for Cameroon but his short-range strike was collected by Brazilian goalie Renan.
The game started slowly in a lackluster first half. Both sides failed to penetrate the backline with great passes and finished poorly in front of goal.
Ronaldinho served at least three threatening set pieces but all were warded off by Cameroon defenders' flying headers.
The "Indomitable Lion Cubs" best moment in the first half came in the 13th minute, when Gustave Bebbe fired a powerful shot from outside the area. Renan stucked up a hand and palmed the ball over the bar.
Brazil began to dominate the match after the African's forward Albert Banning received his second caution in 51st minute and was sent off despite having complained painfully to the Slovenian referee.
In the 60th minute, Brazil's Manchester United midfielder Anderson took a pass right in front of the goal but his left-footed shot was firmly held by captain and goalkeeper Amour Tignyemb, missing a perfect chance to conclude the match in regular time.
"I'm little disappointed because we played a long time 10 against 11," said coach Martin Ndtoungou. "With 10 players, we dragged them (Brazil) into extra time, so I think we played well."
The fierce game is marred by a number of fouls. A total of 12 yellow cards were shown, with the Cameroons taking eight of them.
It is only Cameroon's third Olympic appearance after first competing at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and then creating history by winning gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney. The Indomitable Lion Cubs' victory was Cameroon's first gold medal in any sport at an Olympic Games.
Despite being the most successful team in FIFA World Cup history, Brazil has yet to win an Olympic gold medal. This time coach Dunga's side is determined to bring the title home from Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)