Emmanuel Kunde, linchpin of Cameroon's 1990 World Cup team, dies aged 68

“His death constitutes a huge loss for Cameroonian football,” says a federation statement.

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Emmanuel Kunde, who was a mainstay of the 1990 Cameroon side that became the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, has died, the country’s football federation said on Friday.

Kunde, 68, also played at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, where Cameroon made their debut appearance, and was in the winning team when the Indomitable Lions won the Africa Cup of Nations in both 1984 and 1988.

He took the penalty that decided the 1988 Cup of Nations final against Nigeria in Casablanca and also scored from the spot in the dramatic 3-2 loss to England in Naples in the last eight of the 1990 World Cup.

“His death constitutes a huge loss for Cameroonian football,” said a federation statement.