Thomas
N'Kono
(Cameroon)
African soccer had its first real break-through on the
world stage in 1982. Cameroon held Peru, eventual
winners Italy and semifinalists Poland to draws in the
first round group. They only let in one goal, a lucky
header by Italian forward Graziani, but it was enough
to send them home because Italy had 2-2 in goals
compared to Cameroon's 1-1. Thomas N'Kono was the main
reason to their impressive defensive record. He showed
goalkeeping at its finest and was nominated as one of
the best goalkeepers in the tournament. Quite an
achievement for the 26-year-old who was virtually
unknown to the soccerworld outside Africa at the time.
Twice named African Player of the Year in 1979 and
1982, he stayed on in Spain after the 1982 World Cup
with Barcelona club Español. With this club he stayed
faithful for nearly a decade until he retired. With
his native club back in Cameroon, Canon Yaounde, he
won five league championships before he travelled to
Europe. He won the African Nations Cup in 1984, but
missed out on qualifying for the Mexico World Cup two
years later.
Cameroon qualified convincingly to the World Cup in
Italy 1990, but not many fancied them to emulate their
great showing eight years earlier. After their
sensational 1-0 win over defending champions Argentina
in the opening game, Cameroon continued in style until
they were knocked out by England in the quarterfinals.
N'Kono had another fine tournament and could retire as
a proud man. He was the first African goalkeeper to
earn a contract in a professional club in Europe, and
the first to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup match.
Apart from the 4-0 defeat to Russia in 1990, a match
which meant nothing to Cameroon as they already had
made it to the second round, N'Kono only let in four
goals from open play in seven games in his World Cup
career. A remarkable record knowing how fragile the
African sides have been defensively over the years.
Surprisingly enough N'Kono was tempted out of
retirement to join the Cameroon team in the 1994 World
Cup as third choice goalkeeper, but didn't play a
minute in that tournament. He ended his career there
and is currently working as goalkeeper coach for the
Cameroon national team.
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