Cameroon World Cup Chances
Thursday, June 3, 2010
After an excellent showing in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Cameroon have since faded somewhat – and this is widely attributed to the older members of the team during the “glory years” going into retirement. However, this year, the side are rejuvenated and could definitely be the ones to watch during the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa and even worth a World Cup bet.
They are now the top ranked African team according to the FIFA, and have been busy developing a new generation of young starlets including Roger Millas and Francois Omam-Biyiks. The team qualified for the 2010 World Cup relatively comfortably despite a slow start. It is Samuel Eto’o who is undoubtedly the side’s best player, and the team will be concentrating all their efforts in providing the ex-Barcelona man with as much service as possible come South Africa. If he can escape the world-class defenses on show, then he is unlikely to fail in front of goal.
The potentially world class Pierre Webo is another threat for opposition defenses to worry about, and his creative through balls to Eto’o will be on the minds of the opposition. The battling midfield trio of Jean Makoun, Stephane Mbia, and Alexandre Song are unlikely to give much possession away and were consistently strong during qualifying.
Their World Cup finals draw could have been easier, with the Africans set to meet the excellent Holland, Japan – who have impressed in recent competitions – and Denmark, who are unlikely to pose much of a threat. If Cameroon can pick up points against the latter two sides, it should be themselves and the Netherlands who progress. For more World Cup odds vist Betfair World Cup betting.[Via]
posted @ 10:58 AM,
,
Cameroon Team - Les Lions Indomitables (Indomitable Lions)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Not only do they have sport's coolest nickname, Cameroon is also now home to Africa's most successful national team, boasting a legacy of continental success that is the envy of Africa.
A republic, Cameroon is nestled in the central-west of the continent, with Nigeria to its west and the DRC, Equitorial Guinea and Gabon to the South. Chad and Central Africa Republic are its other two neighbors. It sits on the Atlantic at the Bight of Bonny, and is a former colony of both England and France (it was divided post-WWI). As in Algeria, a guerilla war was waged against France in the northern part of the country for two decades before independence and reunification.
A relatively stable African nation -- despite what is seen as a corrupt and autocratic government -- Cameroon is split linguistically and culturally between its French-speaking and English-speaking populace.
Despite some well-established industries (timber, agriculture, oil), many people in the country still live on subsistence wages. That said, it is still one of the wealthier nations per capita in the sub-Saharan region.
Soccer is the national sport, and many of the top players have been exported to major teams in France, Spain, Germany and England. Cameroon is also known for being hit by footballing tragedy. In particular, the death of Marc-Vivien Foe cast a pall over the team and international football. Foe collapsed during the 2003 Confederations Cup during a game against Colombia, and could not be revived. An autopsy later suggested a previously unknown heart defect had led to his death.
PAST WORLD CUP SUCCESS: Six-time qualifiers, they became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals in 1990, when they pushed England to the limit before losing. Unfortunately, they've gone out in the group stage every other time.
REGIONAL SUCCESS: Four-time winners of the African Cup of Nations, they also won gold at the 2000 Olympic Games.
LEAGUE OVERVIEW: An 11-team league, of which only Cotonsport is at all notable. Cotonsport is a regular presence on the continental stage, but their best finish was runners-up in the CAF Confederations Cup in 2008.
MANAGER: Paul Le Guen. He's had a shaky record. At Lyon, he led the club to glory. At Glasgow Rangers, he didn't fit in at all, and was sacked quickly. He didn't recover with Paris Saint-Germain, either, and originally signed a short-term deal with Cameroon. He has a good track record with younger players, however, having turned Rennes from a doormat into a decent Ligue One side through shrewd scouting and management.
KEY PLAYERS: They have a lot. Alex Song (Arsenal) is perhaps the key man this time out. He was arguably the Gunners' man of the year, capable on both defense and offense, and has the ability to take over games despite his relative youth -- he's just 22. His uncle, Rigobert (Trabzonspor), is the hard man in the back, known for fouling early and often. Samuel Eto'o is the game-changing forward, though his productivity has dropped since leaving Barcelona for Inter Milan. Of course, he's in the Champions League final, and Barcelona is not. Jean Makoun was a key midfielder for Lyon during their European run. Pierre Webo has shaken off injury to become a solid contributor at Mallorca and could pair up top with Eto'o.
FIFA RANKINGS: 19th. Highest was 11th (2006) and lowest was 62nd (1997).
FIRST ROUND OPPONENTS: Denmark, Japan, Holland
HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST DENMARK: The Lions are 1-0-1 in two friendly meetings, neither particularly recent. In 2001, Denmark won in Copenhagen 2-1; three years prior Cameroon won by the same score, also in Copenhagen.
HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST JAPAN: Cameroon has never beaten Japan, but it should be noted that all the matches have been played on Japanese soil. In the 2001 Confederations Cup, Japan handled Cameroon 2-0. More recently, Japan repeated the feat in a 2007 friendly. Overall, Cameroon is 0-1-2 against the Asian side.
HEAD TO HEAD AGAINST NETHERLANDS: Two friendlies, no wins, all on Dutch soil. Most recent was a 1-0 Dutch win in Rotterdam in 2006; in 1998 in Arnhem the two sides played to a scoreless draw.
FOX SPORTS POLL
How far will Cameroon go?Win it allFinalsSemisQuartersRound of 16They won't make it out of group play
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: Cameroon got off to a very slow start, losing to Togo and then playing a scoreless draw against Morocco that saw then-coach Otto Pfister sacked. Le Guen took over and Cameroon proceeded to win four straight to finish atop Group A.
PERCENTAGE CHANCE TO PROGRESS: 75%. They should get out of this group. Holland are the favorites, and the Danes will be tough, but Cameroon should get the African boost and finish safely in the top two.
TO WATCH: Achille Emana. The 28-year old has blossomed in Spain with Real Betis and could be on several teams' radar.
ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor), Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Guy Roland Ndy Assembe (Valenciennes), Amour Patrick Tignyemb (Bloemfontein Celtic)
Defenders: Jean Patrick Abouna Ndzana (Astres de Douala), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham), Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes), Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Geremi Njitap (Ankaragucu), Stephane Mbia (Marseille), Makadji Boukar (Al Nahdha), Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco), Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor)
Midfielders: Marcel Ndjeng (Augsburg), Enoh Eyong Tarkang (Ajax), Jean II Makoun (Lyon), Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern), Joel Matip (Schalke), Patrick Mevoungou (Canon Sportif de Yaounde), Landry Nguemo (Celtic), Alexandre Song (Arsenal)
Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Coton Sport), Eric Choupo-Moting (FC Nuremberg), Achille Emana (Betis), Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan), Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg), Rostand Dorge Kouemaha (FC Brugge), Achille Webo (Mallorca), Jacques Zoua (FC Basel) (From)
posted @ 6:46 PM,
,
Cameroon Squad
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Cameroon manager Paul Le Guen has announced the provisional squad for the World Cup. Of the 30 players listed below, 7 will be culled leaving us with the 23 man World Cup squad. Without further ado:
Goalkeepers:
Souleymanou Hamidou (Kayserispor)
Carlos Idriss Kameni (Espanyol)
Guy Assembé (Valenciennes)
Patrick Tignyemb (Bloemfontein Celtic)
Defenders:
Jean Patrick Abouna Ndzana (Les Astres FC de Douala)
Benoît Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham Hotspur)
Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham Hotspur)
Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes)
Aurelien Chedjou (Lille)
Geremi Njitap (Ankaragucu)
Stéphane Mbia (Olympique de Marseille)
Makadji Boukar (AL Nahdha Club)
Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco)
Rigobert Song (Trabzonspur)
Midfielders:
Marcel Ndjeng (Augsburg)
Enoh Eyong (Ajax)
Jean II Makoun (Olympique Lyonnais)
Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern)
Joêl Matip (Schalke 04)
Patrick Mevoungou (Canon Sportif de Yaounde)
Landry Nguemo (Celtic)
Alexandre Song (Arsenal)
Attackers:
Vincent Aboubakar (Coton Sport FC de Garoua)
Eric Choupo-Moting (Nuernberg)
Achille Emana (Real Betis)
Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale)
Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg)
Dorge Kouemaha (Brugge)
Achille Webó (Mallorca)
Jacques Zoua (Basel)
Some notable missing names would be Henri Bedimo, Dany Nounkeu, Augustin Binya, Somen Tchoyi and Daniel Ngom Kome.
If I had to guess the following 7 will not make it to South Africa: Patrick Tignyemb (a lock), Makadji Boukar, Abouna Ndzana, Marcel Ndjeng, Patrick Mevoungou, Jacques Zoua and Vincent Aboubakar.[Via]
posted @ 2:23 PM,
,
Cameroon May Shock the World in FIFA 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
With the 2010 FIFA World Cup being the first on African soil, Cameroon will head to South Africa as a nation determined to live up to the lofty hopes and dreams of an entire continent.
Having been handed an extremely easy group in qualifying for South Africa—with the likes of Gabon, Togo, and Morocco, Cameroon coasted through qualification and won their group with relative ease.
SCHEDULE
Japan: June 14
Denmark: June 19
Netherlands: June 24
However, the draw for the World Cup group stage isn’t as kind to The Indomitable Lions. Paired with Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands, the road to the round of 16 will be very challenging.
They take on Japan first on the sixth overall day of the tournament, before a showdown with Denmark five days later. Their last fixture sees them face The Netherlands in Cape Town in what could be for a place in the knockout stage.
While massive travel and altitude concerns could be a factor in the upcoming World Cup, they shouldn’t have as much of an effect on Cameroon. While they have fixtures in Bloemfontein, Pretoria, and Cape Town, respectively, the Indomitable Lions will have a home-field advantage of sorts in every match as they are representing African soccer to the rest of the world.
Expect each match to be hotly contested, as each team in the group will have realistic expectations to advance to the knockout stage. {#}
posted @ 10:34 PM,
,
Cameroon's Fighting Spirit
Geremi, the Cameroon defender, believes that Africa's experienced World Cup campaigners will turn on the style in this summer's tournament.
Cameroon are the highest-ranked African team and the continent's most successful, reaching the 1990 World Cup quarter-finals and now preparing for their sixth appearance in the sport's showpiece event. "The difference between us and some other African teams is our mentality and fighting spirit, like our emblem the lion," Geremi said.
"We have a lot of players in Europe playing in big teams. Other teams in Africa do too, but it is important to have good players, good mentality and the ability to play together."
Geremi, who has played for Real Madrid, Chelsea and Newcastle United, arrived at Ankaragucu in January hoping to play regularly and increase his chances of making the World Cup squad. Cameroon have come under fire for some unusual strips over the years - sleeveless vests, eye-wateringly tight tops and a one-piece outfit have all featured - and the defender admitted that their 2010 addition will boost the nation's chances of lifting the World Cup.
"Feeling comfortable is the most important thing of course," the 31-year-old, who plays for Turkish club Ankaragucu, said.
"So long as people are comfortable why not experiment. I think there will be a surprise in South Africa, but I'm also hoping we surprise with our results not just the kit." Cameroon wore a one-piece kit in their traditional colours of green and red for three group matches and the quarter-final of the 2004 African Nations Cup but FIFA said it broke the rules. They were fined and docked six World Cup qualifying points, a punishment which was later reversed.
The Indomitable Lions also caused controversy in 2002, turning up for that year's African Nations Cup in Mali in sleeveless shirts which looked more like basketball tops. They were also swiftly banned by FIFA. More here
posted @ 1:35 PM,
,
Number 20 Team of the World Cup - Cameroon
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Cameroon eventually made it to South Africa after a tumultuous qualifying campaign which saw the Indomitable Lions dispense with German Coach Otto Pfister following a lackluster start to the third round of CAF qualification. Pfister was quickly replaced by Frenchman Paul Le Guen, the former Lyon boss negotiating the final four fixtures of the campaign to narrowly guide his team to the World Cup.
Although Cameroon is widely and quite correctly well-respected in the world game, its current crop of talent has failed to impress since an appearance at the final of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. The likes of Geremi, Stephane Mbia and Jean Makoun, despite having big reputations in Europe, have flattered to deceive at international level and, as a result, this Cameroonian side has perhaps not reached the levels many expected it to attain. There is certainly enough talent in the squad to compete in the World Cup, but there is much pressure on Le Guen to coax better collective performances from his team this summer if they are to be in with a chance of overcoming Denmark and Japan, their closest group rivals, to progress to a possible last 16 encounter with Italy.
The first of the 20 teams we have covered so far to use a conventional midfield diamond, Le Guen’s Cameroon give themselves something of a defensive insurance policy with Arsenal’s Alex Song, one of Africa’s finest young talents, screening the back four. Song is also used as a platform for counter-attacks, bringing the ball out of defence and playing it to the wide midfielders with Makoun likely to play on the right with the wide left berth very much up for grabs (although Eyong Enoh is perhaps the most credible candidate for the role). Achille Emana, one of the team’s few truly creative players, sits at the head of the diamond feeding the strike partnership of Inter’s Samuel Eto’o, the team’s talisman, and Real Mallorca’s Pierre Webo.
If Le Guen can inject an added passion and urgency into his team, then the Indomitable Lions undoubtedly have the collective abilities to make an impression on this summer’s tournament and battle their way out of a difficult group. However, if the team is gripped by the same malaise which saw it suicidally throw away a winning position in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in January and almost blow its chances of World Cup qualification, it could be a short and painful tournament for Cameroon. {#}
Labels: Cameroon, Ranking, Teams
posted @ 9:58 AM,
,
World Cup Preparations
Friday, April 30, 2010
We are now just 61 days away from the opening game of the World Cup between South Africa and Mexico. So how do Cameroon plan to use these final two months to prepare the real thing?
Well the Cameroon Football Association has announced that they will hold a camp from April 12-16 in Yaoundé made up of 24 locally based players in a last ditch attempt to find possible new talent worthy of donning the Cameroon shirt in South Africa. It is somewhat doubtful whether any of the 24 men given this chance have a realistic opportunity at winning a place. This late in the game would seem to rule out any actual chance, but it does at least show that Paul Le Guen and is staff are willing to look at a large number of players in an attempt to piece together the best possible squad.
Cameroon will then set up camp in the Parisian suburb of Val d’Oise and train in the Michel Hidalgo Stadium. From France they will then travel to Germany as they begin the run-in to the World Cup with a series of friendlies starting on May 29th against fellow World Cup qualifiers Slovakia. This match will take place in the city of Klagenfurt. Following that on the June 1st they will face Portugal who have also qualified for the World Cup. This match will take place in the Portuguese city of Covilhã. And finally a week before the start of the tournament Cameroon will take part in their final friendly on June 5th against Serbia in Belgrade.
So Cameroon will be facing off against three World Cup teams from Europe. The Cameroon football association has done a top notch job of scheduling friendlies in the build up for the World Cup. They have already done battle with Italy and now get three more World Cup teams. Serbia and Portugal will be hoping that Cameroon serve as a bit of a barometer for their own African opposition of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire respectively meanwhile Slovakia will just be looking to test themselves as they are in a group without African opposition.
The friendlies will be a great test to see how Cameroon handle world class attacking players such Marek Hamšík of Slovakia and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal. And it will be interesting to see if the Cameroon attack can get the better of defenders such as Ricardo Carvalho, Branislav Ivanović and Nemanja Vidić of Serbia.
These friendlies should prepare Cameroon’s 23 man squad for the matches that actually count against Denmark, Japan and The Netherlands starting with Japan June 14 in Bloemfontein. {#}
posted @ 11:59 AM,
,
A defensive lineman from Cameroon?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Among the more than 300 high school football players who showed up Sunday at USC for the invitation-only Nike Camp, the most intriguing for me was 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior-to-be Stephan Nembot from Van Nuys Montclair Prep.
He's a native of Cameroon who played football for the first time last season. Basketball was supposed to be his sport. But he's a brilliant student, has come to enjoy football and if the college recruiters don't start coming around, it would be shocking because his physical stature is ideal for the sport.
"I think it's a great sport," said Nembot, who speaks fluent French and good English. "You have to be powerful. We don't have football in Africa."
There were big bodies and big names galore on the field. De'Anthony Thomas from Crenshaw made an appearance. The big-time recruits such as defensive linemen Jason Gibson from Gardena Serra and Charles Burks from Huntington Beach Edison were doing their thing.
Burks looks smaller than some running backs, but his agility, upper body strength and quickness explains why he had 14 sacks last season.
Among the quarterbacks participating was a surprise. Rio Ruiz, the sophomore baseball standout from La Puente Bishop Amat, decided to see how he matched up at quarterback. Let me say I would want Ruiz on my team in ping-pong, horseshoes or anything else.
Conner Preston from Serra, Jerry Neuheisel from Los Angeles Loyola and Michael Eubank from Corona Centennial were among the participants in a wide-open quarterback competition. There is no Matt Barkley for 2010, and I'm waiting to see if someone emerges as a clear-cut No. 1 in Southern California.
As for best athletes, I like Tre Madden from Mission Viejo, who plays linebacker, quarterback, receiver and anything Coach Bob Johnson can think of. There were lots of Mission Viejo players participating, and all looked in football shape.
I'll wait for the Internet gurus to let us know who were the camp standouts, but for my couple of hours spent there, finding a promising 6-7 player from Cameroon means it was a good day.
Photo: Stephan Nembot stretches along with the other Nike Camp participants at USC on Sunday. Credit: Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times
Labels: Cameroon
posted @ 2:28 PM,
,
