Cameroon Team Profile - 2010 Africa Cup of Nations

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Dicembre 11, 2009 Di Angela Asante

Temi: Cameroon, 2010 Africa Cup of Nations

Live Soccer TV now takes you to another French-speaking country. It’s Cameroon, one of Africa’s main forces when it comes to football matters.

Cameroon – the country, the football

Cameroon is located in western and central Africa. It has six neighboring countries – Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo.

The Cameroonian territory is also bordered by the Atlantic Ocean; the Bight of Bonny and the Gulf of Guinea also faces its coastlines.

With more than 200 linguistic and ethnic groups, Cameroon’s culture is so diverse that the country is sometimes referred to as “Africa in miniature”.

On the football stage, Cameroon lead as the best soccer nation in Africa according to FIFA’s World Rankings. The Indomitable Lions currently occupy the 11th spot worldwide.

Since the 1980s, the country has emerged strongly from the dark, winning the Africa Cup of Nations four times and also making five World Cup appearances.

2003 was also a year marked with sorrow in Cameroonian football as midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé’s death in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup was followed with defeat against France in the final of that tournament.

The Indomitable Lions came close to bringing joy back home when they reached the final of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations held in Ghana. However, they succumbed to a cruel 1-0 score line against Egypt and ended up with silver medals only.

They’ll try and go one better in January 2010 when the continent’s most prestigious tournament is staged in Angola.

Cameroon – the road to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations

Cameroon were predictably drawn in Pot A ahead of Round 2. The fell in Group 1 with Cape Verde, Tanzania, and Mauritius; they came out as obvious winners with 16 points in six matches and no defeats throughout.

Once again, Cameroon found themselves in the first group – Group A – in Round 3. The fixtures proved to be more difficult with games against Gabon, Togo, and Morocco to be played.

Astonishingly, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon went down 3-0 against Togo’s Sparrow Hawks, much to the anxiety and anger of the nations’ fans.

However, with the influence of their skipper Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon bounced back and finally topped the table with 13 points, five points ahead of runners-up Gabon.

Cameroon – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations group stage

They made it alongside Angola, Egypt, and the Ivory Coast in the top seeds. They were subsequently put in Pot 1 during the draws on November 20th.

Luckily, Cameroon avoided West African rivals Ghana and Nigeria in Group D. Fortunately, perhaps, they will meet Gabon again. The likes of Tunisia and Zambia completed the table.

Match-day One:

Cameroon will stand the opportunity of grabbing the maximum points from their first match at the upcoming 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournament. They’ll meet Gabon for another time – a team which they beat in the two legs during the qualification campaign.

The match is set to start on January 13th at 16:00 GMT at the Estadio Alto da Chela in Lubango.

Match-day Two:

This match against Zambia could seal Cameroon’s passage into the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Cameroon will enter the match with a lot of confidence, having been able to overcome the Zambians with five goals in the last Africa Cup of Nations edition which was staged in Ghana.
The game will come up on January 17th at 18:30 GMT.

Match-day Three:

It should be another affair altogether when Tunisia and Cameroon clash against each other on January 21st at 16:00 GMT. The match might be more of a close contest between the two teams unless one of the sides has nothing to play for.

Cameroon – 2010 Africa Cup of Nations squad

Paul Le Guen has finally named his Cameroon squad that will compete at the upcoming 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

The manager didn’t left out 33-year-old defender Rigobert Song who will then be making a record of eight appearances in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Here is Cameroon’s 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers:

S. Hamidou; C. Kameni; G. Ndy Assembe

Defenders:

H. Bedimo; A. Bikey; A. Chedjoiu; G. Mandjeck; N. N'Koulou; Geremi; R. Song; A. Song

Midfielders:

Gilles Binya; E. Enoh; S. Mbia; J. Makou; J. Matip; L. N'Guemo

Attackers:

P. Alo'o Efoulou; A. Emana; S. Eto'o; M. Idrissou; S. Tchoyi; Webo

Cameroon – Things to expect from the Indomitable Lions and their star

Who is Africa’s best football nation? The majority of the public will go in for the Ivory Coast but Cameroon will try and contest for the honor of being crowned as the best.

Whether they start on a slow note or not, Cameroon are tipped to be very dangerous at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

Samuel Eto’o

The player to watch will be no-one else but Samuel Eto’o. The former Barcelona forward came at the rescue of his country time and times again during the qualifiers. He is poised to win the tournament’s top scorer award for the third time in a row.