FIFA U-20 World Cup: Mali, Cameroon lose, face early elimination - It was a bad day for two African teams, Cameroon and Mali, Tuesday when they lost their second group matches at the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, with early elimination now staring both teams in the face.

Host Colombia became the first team to reach the round of 16, after overcoming Mali 2-0 in their second group A game in the capital city of Bogota.

While Colombia moves to top of Group A on six points, Mali remains glued to the bottom of the table without a point, following its loss in the first match to South Korea by the same margin

Mali's last group match against France may not provide any relief for the Africans, who should by now be packing their bags to head back home.

On its part, Cameroon is also at the bottom of group B, with one point, after failing to repeat the performance that gave it a 1-1 draw against New Zealand in their opening match.

The Cameroonians lost 1-0 to Portugal.

Cameroon's last group game against Uruguay may also be its last of the 2011 tournament, unless the team can take its game to a new high.

On Monday, Egypt beat Panama 1-0 to rekindle its hopes of advancing from group E, after drawing 1-1 with Brazil in the group's opening game.

Africa's fourth team at the tournament, Nigeria, won its opening game 5-0 against Guatemala on Sunday and is due to return to action Wednesday against Croatia in their second group D game.

Pana 04/08/2011