Eto'o shows his class with a hat-trick

African Nations: Samuel Eto'o underlined his pre-eminent position in African football with a hat-trick as Cameroon beat Angola 3-1 in the opening Group B match at the African Nations Cup finals in Cairo today.

The Barcelona striker curled home a trademark free kick, powered home a header six minutes before the break and completed his hat-trick with a shot from the edge of the area late on.

World Cup finalists Angola were outclassed by the four-times Nations Cup winners, although they did manage to equalise after 30 minutes when Flavio converted a penalty. The performance of Eto'o overshadowed that of captain Rigobert Song, who was celebrating his 100th cap.

It took only 20 minutes for the twice African Footballer of the Year to make his mark, stepping up to curl a free kick past Angola's veteran goalkeeper Joao Ricardo after midfielder Andre had fouled the influential Jean Makoun.

Angola were level within 10 minutes when captain Akwa had his feet taken out from under him by Cameroon's Hamidou Souleymanou as he tried to chip the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper. Akwa, usually Angola's penalty taker, handed the responsibility to his strike partner Flavio, who sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Angola, who pipped Nigeria for a World Cup place in the qualifiers last year, were quickly back on the defensive as Eto'o spurned a good chance just minutes later. Eto'o put his side back in front when he powered home a header from a cross by Rudolph Douala as the Angola defence failed to pick him up.

Makoun's astute pass split Angola's defence shortly before the break giving Eto'o the chance to clinch his hat-trick, but he was denied by a smothering save from Joao Ricardo.

Cameroon lost a little of their tempo in the second half but Eto'o, who wore a signature set of red and black socks that differed from the yellow of his team mates, stood out. He attempted one audacious snap effort from the centre circle midway through the half and sealed his hat-trick when he drove in a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Earlier in the day striker Didier Drogba became an injury doubt for Ivory Coast's next game against Libya after their match-winner was substituted in today's 1-0 win over Morocco.

"He's been carrying this knee injury for a while now," coach Henri Michel told reporters after the Chelsea player was surprisingly taken off after 65 minutes of the Group A tie. "He's got three days to recover before the next game and we'll have to see what we're going to do."

Drogba converted a 39th-minute penalty to secure a laboured win over a slick Morocco side. His absence against Libya would be a real blow, particularly as his usual strike partner Aruna Dindane has returned home following the death of one of his twin daughters and is under no obligation to return.

Despite having a doubt over his £24 million striker for Tuesday's game in Cairo, Michel was satisfied with three points to match Egypt's 3-0 win over the Libyans on Friday.

"It's good to have won, even though it was a difficult game against a very good Morocco side and on a pitch where you couldn't play quality football. It was too hard and too bobbly," he said. "But the win will be good for the players confidence and team morale."

Drogba said: "We played well, handled it very professionally. It's important for the rest of the campaign to have started well."

Morocco defender Noureddine Naybet, whose team reached the 2004 final against Tunisia, pinpointed the lack of finishing for his side's defeat.

"We didn't make the most of what we had . . . and they took their chance and scored," he said. "There are two matches to go, we'll have to handle them properly."