JOHANNESBURG. Dec 31 (AFP): A rollercoaster year for Africa saw Cameroon collect Nations Cup and Olympic gold medals. 13 Zimbabweans die at a Harare stadium and South Africa pipped for (he right to host the 2006 World Cup.

Hearts of Oak of Ghana won the Champions League for the first time with surprising ease and Zamalek of Egypt raised their tally of Pan-African titles to a record seven by hoisting the Cup Winners Cup

JS Kabylie of Algeria became only the second club after Esperance of Tunisia to win the three major chib trophies, adding the CAF Cup after a stormy North African showdown’with ismailla of Egypt.

Raja Casablanca of Morocco had no luck in Brazil at the first world club championship with two of their three defeats due to late goals scored by Africans representing Saudi and Spanish clubs.

The dominance of Cameroon at the highest level was reflected in the African Footballer of the Year poll with Patrick Mboma. Lauren Mayer. Samuel Eto'o and Gereini Njitap filling the top four places.

But .an unknown footballer could nave a much greater long-term impact on the game as Andre Coetzee became Hie Bosman of Africa by winning a Cape Town court case that brought freedom to out-ol-contraut South African players.

The shock result ol the year arrived at Junior level will) Ghana - first twice, second twice and third once in the last five world championships bundled out in the first qualifying round by little Gambia

Cheating at under-age level continued with Chad disqualified from the youth championship after an eight-goal mauling of Libya, who were reinstated only to concede 1 I goals against Burkina Faso

Perennial underachievers Zimbabwe ended a 15-year trophy drought by winning the

Castle Cup Southern Africa championship after a couple of emphatic victories over a Lesotho team suffering from severe stage fright.

An all-Uganda final to the East add Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup in Kampala produced a two-goal victory for the senior team in a tournament so hampered by cash problems that the Rwandan team had to pay for an ambu-

A lack of funds, and the often dubious distribution of meagre resources, continued to bedevil the most popular sport on the continent witii West Africa forced to postpone the finals of its club championship.

Women’s football was on the verge of celebrating a championship full of goals when crowd trouble over a disputed goal forced the abandonment of the final with holders Nigeria two goals ahead of hosts South Africa.

Cameroon made a quick impression on Ilie biennial Nations Cup. dominating co-hosts Ghana in the opening encounter only to be deprived of victory- by a series of extraordinary

The Indomitable Lions crushed Ivory Coast 3-0 and shrugged off a shock defeat against Togo lo reach the final by eliminating dogged Algeria and disappointing Tunisia in the knockout stages.

Co-hosts Nigeria displayed mixed form cn route to the showpiece, failing to score in 90 minutes against minnows Congo, but taking less than 90 seconds to penetrate a much-vaunted South African rear-

Home advantage tilled the pre-match scales in favour of the Super Eagles, not that it had much effect on Cameroon, who were two goals ahead midway through the first half (hanks lo Eto'o and Mboma.

Goals by Raphael Chukwu and Augustine 'Jay Jay' Oko-cha Just before and after halftime brought the teams level and the Increasingly fatigued combatants could not produce a winner, even during 30 min-

utes of extra time.

Slow-motion television replays suggested a Victor ikpeba kick in the penalty shootout crossed the line after striking the underside of the crossbar, but the Tunisian referee thought otherwise

Fittingly, lion-hearted Cameroon captain and defender Rigobert Song stepped forward to blast the ball past Ike Sho-runmu and give his country a 4-3 victory on penalties and leave Lagos resembling a massive morgue.

Penalties also played a decisive role in the Sydney Olympics as a squad composed of under-23 players plus three over-age stars pipped Spain lo emulate Nigeria and become the second successive champions from Africa.

Cameroon liad to play catch up this time as they fell behind in 80 seconds and were lucky to be just two goals adrift at half-time as Carlos Kameni, 16. the third choice at French Second Division club Lc Havre, saved a penalty.

An own goal brought hope to the Africans, six minutes later Eto'o restored equality and when Spain had two players sent off before extra time, it seemed only a matter of time before Cameroon struck gold.

The golden goal never arrived. however, and once again the Cameroonians had to endure a shootout that ended with Italy-based defender Pierre Wome scoring and giving Ills country their most significant international success.

Mboma was among the overage Olympic heroes and cantered to first place in the annual Footballer of Ihc Year poll among media and technical committee members of the African Football Confederation (CAF).

The striker who arrived at Italian Serie A club Parma this year via Paris Saint Germain. Chateauroux. Melz, Gamba Osaka and Cagliari collected 123 votes. 87 more than Arsenal midfielder Lauren.

When South Africa took a two-goal lead over Zimbabwe 83 minnles into a World Cup

qualifier, fans pelted bottles at celebrating players and police responded by firing seemingly endless canisters of teargas.

With almost 60.000 spectators trying to flee the National Stadium, a tragedy was inevitable. and it appeared almost Irrelevant when South Africa were officially awarded the points five months later.

Just four days before the Harare disaster. South Africans wept publicly when Germany were chosen as 2006 World Cup hosts by 12 votes to I 1 with octogenarian Charles Dempsey from New Zealand abstaining.