The Junior All Whites fell behind when Christ Mbondi slotted a rebound from a 33rd-minute penalty saved by Stefan Marinovic.
Seven minutes later the scores were levelled by Cameroon defender Serge Tchaha who, under pressure from Dakota Lucas, headed a Ryan Cain cross past goalkeeper Jean Efala and into his own net.
Substitutes Sean Lovemore and Tim Payne almost combined for what would have been a 75th-minute winner but Lovemore couldn’t keep his close-range volley down after meeting Payne’s perfectly-flighted cross.
The point, New Zealand’s first at an U-20 men’s World Cup, keeps the Junior All Whites firmly in the hunt for a place in the round of 16 but they must beat either Uruguay or Portugal – who clashed in the group’s late kick off – in their remaining Group B matches.
“It’s good to get the first point,” said New Zealand coach Chris Milicich.
“The objective from today was to be really tight, not concede and be really competitive in the game.
“We hit the wall with about 20 minutes to go and I think that was due to the heat and the ground and the overwhelming noise from the crowd. The players couldn’t hear themselves so there were a couple of errors that occurred.
“To hang in there and defend really well was very pleasing. Cameron is a very good side.”
New Zealand defended resolutely form the start and a pair of desperate blocks from Ryan Cain and James Musa in the 18th minute set the tone.
The dangerous Franck Ohandza rattled the cross bar from a tight angle in the 22nd minute but had more luck when ghosting behind the New Zealand defence from a flick on and forcing Marinovic into challenging the striker.
Ohandza pipped the Kiwi stopper to the ball, drawing contact to win a penalty although his heavy touch away from goal prompted the Scottish referee to show Marinovic a yellow card instead of a red that could have killed New Zealand’s chances.
Marinovic guessed correctly with his dive but his parry fell back into the path of Mbondi who gladly accepted the second opportunity.
Only minutes earlier the Junior All Whites had seen a strong claim for a penalty of their own turned down as midfielder Adam Thomas was clipped by a defender inside the Cameroon penalty area.
In the second half, the heat took its toll on the Kiwis with Cameroon finishing the game the stronger of the two sides but the New Zealand defence stood firm with Marinovic making some sharp saves.
“I thought the commitment, attitude and desire of the players was top notch but I think we have to get much better at playing the ball,” Milicich said.
“Because players couldn’t hear we whacked the ball away without any control but having said that the players were under constant pressure from a good side, more pressure than they have been exposed to before, so I think we can all be very proud of the players.”
New Zealand’s next game at the FIFA U-20 World Cup is against Uruguay on Wednesday at 10am (NZT).
FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011
Group B
Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero
Cali, Colombia
July 30, 2011
New Zealand 1 (Serge TCHAHA own goal 40’)
Cameroon 1 (Christ MBONDI 33’)
Halftime: 1-1
New Zealand: 1-Stefan MARINOVIC (gk), 2-Andrew BEVIN, 3-Nick BRANCH (c), 4-Ryan CAIN (5-Sean LOVEMORE 66’), 10-Anthony HOBBS, 11-Dakota LUCAS (8-Ethan GALBRAITH 90+2’), 12-Andrew MILNE (9-Tim PAYNE 49’), 13-Colin MURPHY, 14-James MUSA, 16-Luke ROWE, 18-Adam THOMAS.
Substitutes not used: 6-Nikko BOXALL, 7-Cameron LINDSAY, 15-Marco ROJAS, 17-Mikey KRAMER, 19-Liam HIGGINS, 20-Scott BASALAJ (rgk), 21-Coey TURIPA (rgk).
Coach: Chris MILICICH
Cautions: Stefan MARINOVIC 31’
Cameroon: 16-Jean EFALA (gk), 2-Eric NYATCHOU, 3-Ambroise OYONGO, 4-Banana YAYA, 5-Ghislain MVOM, 9-Franck OHANDZA, 10-Clarence BITANG (8-Emmanuel MBONGO 68’), 12-Franck KOM, 13-Serge TCHAHA, 14-Yazid ATOUBA, 19-Christ MBONDI.
Substitutes not used: 1-Thierry TANGOUANTIO (rgk), 6-Idriss NGUESSI, 7-Yann SONGOO, 11-Yannick MAKOTA, 15-Maxime MENGUE, 17-Jushua MBULUBA, 18-Herve MBEGA, 20-Eric SAME, 21-Eric NGANA (rgk).
Coach: Martin NDTOUNGOU
Cautions: Christ MBONDI 77’
Upcoming matches
New Zealand v Uruguay
Cali, Colombia
August 2, 2011
5pm (10am August 3 NZT)
Sky Sport 2
New Zealand v Portugal
Cali, Colombia
August 5, 2011
5pm (10am August 6 NZT)
Sky Sport 2
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz