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African Cup of Nations 2010: Cameroon Team Guide

Arguably the main contenders to like of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, Cameroon will be expected to be involved right to the very end of the 2010 African Cup of Nations under new boss Paul le Guen. Despite qualifying for the World Cup, it’s been a rocky 12 months for the Indomitable Lions, and they’ll be hoping for a more rewarding 2010 starting with victory in Angola.

One of Africa’s most successful sides of recent times has struggled to match the very best on the continent, being surpassed by the like of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, both in terms of performance and prestige, whilst Egypt’s magnificent run of form at the African Cup of Nations has frozen them out of this tournament as well. After failing to make the World Cup in 2006, after four consecutive participations, the pressure has been heaped on to make good the deficit and re-establish their supremacy on the continent.

Up and down

Although Cameroon first reached the World Cup in 1982, it was their quarter-final appearance at Italia 90 that really shot them to world prominence. Their extra-time defeat to England remains the best performance by an African team at the World Cup and launched Cameroon into the global spotlight.

The 1990’s weren’t altogether kind to Cameroon, as despite making it to the World Cups of both 1994 and 1998, they were unable to recreate the performances of 1990, and they also included a failure to even make it through to the 1994 African Cup of Nations.

The turn of the Millennium once again saw Cameroon reclaim their former position on the African stage thanks to the talents of their Olympic Gold winning side of 2000, and several of that team are still involved with the senior side today. Victory at the 2000 and 2002 African Cup of Nations, plus qualification to the 2002 World Cup finals, suggested that the Indomitable Lions were once again finding their roar.

But failure to make progress to Germany in 2006, combined with a second straight elimination at the quarter final stage of the African Cup of Nations once again brought Cameroon back to earth. That disappointment prompted the appointment of Togo’s former coach Otto Pfister at the helm in 2007. He was the eighth different person to occupy the position since 2000, illustrating the lack of continuity at the helm, one of the more obvious impediments to Cameroon’s recent progress.

Pfister took Cameroon to the finals of the 2008 African Cup of Nations defeating Tunisia and Ghana in the knock-out stages, but was unable to prevent Egypt securing their fourth consecutive African Cup of Nations victory. However, despite the upturn in results, which also saw Cameroon sweep through the initial phase of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations, rifts were beginning to appear within the camp.

Row over staff

With Pfister away on a scouting trip in Greece in June, the Cameroonian FA took the decision to dismiss his assistants and replace them with their own choices. Pfister, a man not known for his forbearance, immediately took affront and announced his resignation. However, after a slow start to the second group stage for World Cup qualifying many suspected that the real reason behind the decision was to coerce Pfister into leaving. A 1-0 defeat to Togo in the first game on neutral territory left Cameroon having to play catch-up, and seriously jeopardised their chances of making it to the World Cup.

Cameroon managed a 0-0 draw in their following match leaving them some five points behind the then group leaders Gabon. The arrival of former Glasgow Rangers and PSG boss Paul le Guen at the helm reignited the campaign. Two wins against Gabon quickly reeled in the group leaders and Cameroon re-imposed themselves as favourites to make it through to South Africa, ultimately going through with a four point cushion at the top of the section.

Indeed despite the torrid start, the 13 points accrued, plus nine goals scored, was an identical record to Nigeria, Algeria and Ghana, so recent form suggests that Cameroon can count themselves in with the best on the continent.

Aim: South Africa

Whilst the long-term goal remains the World Cup, the 2010 African Cup of Nations represents, as it does for all the sides going to South Africa, an outstanding chance to fine tune the team. With four successive wins to confirm their place in Angola, fans will be hoping that the side haven’t peaked too soon.

The tournament will also be a time to give some of the younger team members a chance. The youth teams for Cameroon have been very productive in recent seasons, and whilst they can’t complete with Ghana, who won both the African and World titles and U19 and U20 levels respectively or Nigeria, who bagged the 2007 U17 World Championships, they still have some excellent prospects coming through. With the like of the uncapped Joel Matip or young Monaco defender Nicolas N’Koulou, this tournament represents an excellent chance for some of those youngsters to force their way into Paul le Guen’s thoughts for later in the year.

Squad

Goalkeepers � Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Souleymanou Hamidou (Kayserispor), Guy N’dy Assembe (Valenciennes)

Defenders � Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor), Geremi (Newcastle United), Henri Bedimo (Chateauroux), Andre Bikey (Burnley), Benout Assou-Ekoto (Tottenham)

Midfielders � Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Nicolas N’Koulou (Monaco), Alexandre Song (Arsenal), Jean Makoun (Lyon), Stephane M’Bia (Marseille), Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserlautern), Joel Matip (Schalke), Eyong Enoh (Ajax). Landry N’Guemo (Celtic), Achille Emana (Real Betis), Somen Tchoyi (Red Bull Salzburg)

Attackers � Paul Alo’o (Nancy), Pierre Webo (Real Mallorca), Mohammadou Idrissou (Freiburg), Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan)

Players to Watch

A summer move to Serie A with Inter Milan looks to have been just the change of scene that Samuel Eto’o needed. The former Barcelona striker after falling out with the management at the Camp Nou has shown that he can also score goals in the much more defensive Italian game after a profitable spell with the Catalan giants. With eight goals in 16 league matches since arriving in Milan, Eto’o arrives at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in excellent form, and could well rival Didier Drogba for honours in the top scorer stakes in Angola.

With many of the squad well-known in Western Europe, one player who may be less familiar is Schalke’s youngster Joel Matip. An elegant central midfielder, the 18-year-old was thrown in at the deep end by his coach Felix Magath, when he made his debut in November at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich. He’s gone on to make a further five appearances helping Schalke to cement second place going into the winter-break in Germany and could be a star in the Cameroon midfield for many years to come.

Fixtures

13th Jan � Gabon

17th Jan � Zambia

21st Jan � Tunisia

Prediction

On the surface, Cameroon look like clear favourites to progress as group winners from Group D, although from that stage on things get a little trickier with a potential quarter-final meeting against either Nigeria or Egypt. The squad should be more than capable of matching both Ghana and the Ivory Coast in the final reckoning, so claiming their fifth title at African level is a more than attainable target.

Posted by Walter Townsend on Saturday, 26th December 2009

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