Santa Cruz on target as Cameroon suffer warm-up defeat
(Reuters) - Stalwart striker Roque Santa Cruz scored the winner as Paraguay beat World Cup qualifiers Cameroon 2-1 in a friendly in Kufstein, Austria, on Thursday.
Paraguay, who have missed out on Brazil after playing at the previous four World Cup tournaments, went ahead with Oscar Romero's first goal for his country in the fifth minute.
Former Bayern Munich, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City striker Santa Cruz put the South Americans further ahead when he tapped in from close range in the 68th minute, the 32-year-old's 29th international goal. Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting pulled one back for the Indomitable Lions with 15 minutes left and Mohamadou Idrissou wasted a chance to equalise when his 87th-minute penalty was saved by Paraguay's substitute goalkeeper Victor Centurion.
There was a minor pitch invasion at the end as fans ran on to the field to take photographs with the players. Cameroon, who beat Macedonia 2-0 on Monday and meet Germany on Sunday, face Croatia, Mexico and Brazil at the World Cup.
(Reporting by Brian Homewood; editing by Martyn Herman)
