Emmanuel Kunde, Cameroon’s 1990 World Cup icon, dies at 68

Emmanuel Kunde, Cameroonian football legend, has passed away at the age of 68 years.

The demise of Kunde was announced by the Cameroonian football federation (Fecafoot) on Friday.

Kunde played as a midfielder and was a lynchpin in the Cameroonian team at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

The Cameroonian side became the first ever African nation to reach the quarter-final of the World Cup.

Kunde was also part of a Cameroon side that tormented Nigeria in the 1980s, winning two continental titles at their expense.

He was a substitute as Cameroon defeated Nigeria to lift the AFCON title in 1984, and scored the winning penalty as the Indomitable Lions repeated the trick in 1988.

Tributes have poured in for the late Kunde.

Samuel Eto’o, president of Fecafoot, described Kunde as a “figure of moderation and consideration”.

“I keep with him the memory of a discreet and affectionate man,” Eto’o writes.

“He was a fantastic footballer, the control tower in the midfield, the defensive wall the opponent crashed into but also a great playmaker when the team had possession.

“Praying for the great football family to keep him in your thoughts and my deepest condolences to his nuclear family.

“Individually, it was a fine passer and an artifact with phenomenal power and goldsmith precision.”