This morose atmosphere irked the Indomitable Lions’ fans, who surrounded the main entrance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, after the tension-packed match, threatening to lynch Samuel Fils Eto’o and his teammates.

The blunder that broke the Lions’ back came at the 87th minute when captain Eto’o, messed up a controversial penalty against the Teranga Lions of Senegal. Eto’o squandered the saving grace spot kick that would have closed the gap on Group E leaders Senegal who are now 10 points up, while Cameroon stays only at five.

Several people were injured in the melee as fans shattered car windscreens and tore T-shirts bearing Eto’o's name from the backs of people wearing them. It took the intervention of troops from the Military Headquarter in Yaounde for the Lions to reach their Mont Fébé hotel rooms after the team drew against Senegal. The troops used water cannons to disperse the rioting soccer fans.

At the blast of the final whistle, over 50,000-man crowd that had turned up to cheer the Lions took up positions at the entrance to the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, with weapons threatening to lynch the players. Fans cursed the players with most of them chanting that they wanted Eto’o.

At first, the players resorted to the Presidential passage to make their way out. But security officials had to use truncheons to disperse the crowd and ensure the players’ security. According to Ernest Sumelong and Leocadia Bongben, journalists with The Post newspaper in Yaounde, several cars were vandalized in Yaounde, many fans sustained injuries, while several others were arrested.

This reporter gathered that the New Bell residence of Samuel Eto’o in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala, was being heavily guarded by security forces amidst threat by the population to burn it.

Meanwhile, there is a general morose mood in the country as prospects of Cameroon missing out on the 2012 AFCON are now obvious. The team had opted for victory in order to keep hopes alive but a motivated Senegalese side resisted a virulent Cameroonian attack line.