Defender Wome blasted the injury-time spot kick against the post, costing Cameroon the chance of an African record sixth World Cup finals appearance in Germany next year.

"Why didn't I take the penalty? I went to take it but Wome came up to me and said he was really confident of scoring," Eto'o told Spanish sports daily Sport on Monday.

"You have to accept that these things happen in football sometimes," added the Barcelona player.

The game finished 1-1 and allowed Ivory Coast, who beat Sudan 3-1, to go top of Group Three and qualify for the finals for the first time.

Cameroon took the lead against Egypt through striker Rudolph Douala after 21 minutes but Mohamed Shawky equalised late in the second half.

Inter Milan's Wome missed the chance to put Cameroon through in the fifth minute of injury time, after Salomon Olembe went down in the area.