The Indomitable Lions yesterday beat  Mauritius by 3-1 at the Anjalay stadium, in Northern Mauritius in a match for the qualifying group stage of the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Cameroon largely dominated the match infront of about 6000 spectators.
Eto’o opened the score on the 37th minute of the game while Mauritius equalized on penalty at the 45th minute by Jonathan Brut. Eto’o added a second goal at the 47th minute and Moting scored the third goal from the penalty spot at the 64th minute of the game.
Senegal and Congo are the two other teams in this group. Cameroon comfortably takes the first spot in the group while waiting for the outcome of the match between Senegal and Congo on Sunday.

Stephane Mbia Etoundi has not turned up for any match since the World Cup in South Africa. Convened for the friendly match against Poland, he did not make the trip to Scsezin . Selected to meet in Mauritius this Saturday in preparation for the match against Mauritius, the Marseille defender would not take part in the encounter.

Dr. Ngalle Mbonjo who  is currently the head of the medical staff of the team confirmed that  Mbia is injured.  Stephane Mbia was injured during a third day encounter  of the French league. His return  is expected for the match against Monaco on September 12.

The Cameroon football Federation , FECAFOOT is actively making efforts to bring in two players with dual nationality to join the Cameroon selection . 25 year old  defender, Marvin Matip who plays for Karlsruhe and Liverpool striker, David N’Gog who has been receiving fervent support from Milla.

“The ball is in his court, we have shown interest in him and we expect him to react,” says Francis Mveng, vice president of the Federation. An outcome is eagerly anticipated by Roger Milla. According to him, since France is currently in need of a good attacker, it’s time for us to quicky get hold of the 21 year old David N’Gog.

Marvin Matip, the Germano-Cameroonian defender  currently on loan at Karlsruher SC from FC Cologne, might follow the path of his brother Joel Matip. Talks with FECAFOOT have been advanced concerning this player. According to Francis Mveng, he has been issued a Cameroonian passport already but confirmation from FIFA is still pending.

Some appointments have been effected by the Ministry of Sports in the Cameroon National squad. The Ajax Midfielder , Enoh Eyong and the Monaco Defender, Nicholas Nkoulou have been appointed 1st and 2nd vice captains respectively .

‘ Sur proposition de la Fédération camerounaise de football (Fécafoot), le ministre de l’éducation physique et des Sports nomment les joueurs de l’équipe nationale suivants : 1er vice capitaine : Enoh Eyong Takang, 2ème vice capitaine : Nicolas Nkoulou Ndoubena ”.

Frank Songo'o returns

Cameroon shall  confront  the Mauritius Island on the 4th of September 2010 in a first qualification match for CAN Orange 2012 in group E. Just a few days after the Spanish coach was appointed, he has rendered public the list of 23 players to face Mauritius.

Complete List :

Goalkeepers: Guy Roland N’dy Assembe (FC Nantes, France), Jocelyn Mayebi (Maccabi Nazareth, Israël), Hugo Nyamé (Astres Douala).

Defenders : Stéphane Bikey (FC Burnley, England), Gilles Augustin Binya (Neuchâtel Xamax, Suisse), Henri Bedimo (RC Lens, France), Sébastien Bassong (Tottenham, England), Nicolas Nkoulou (AS Monaco, France), Benoît Assou Ekotto (Tottenham, England), Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes, France), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille, France).

Midfielders : Aurélien Chedjou (Lille, France), Marcel Ndjeng (FC Augsbourg, Germany), Jean II Makoun (Lyon, France), Georges Mandjeck (Stade Rennais, France), Joel Matip (Schalke 04, Germany), Eyong Enoh (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherland).

Attackers: Henri Bienvenu Ntsama (Young Boys Berne, Switzerland), Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting (Hambourg SV, Germany, Vincent Aboubakar (Valenciennes, France), Franck Songo’o (Real Sociedad, Spain), Jacques Zoua (FC Bâle, Switzerland), Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan, Italy).

Some critics say this list was not published by Javier Clemente.

The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o have joined forces to launch Puma’s latest football boot called  ‘the lightest in the world.’

The Puma V1.10 SL Lightning boot shall be released on Usain Bolt’s birthday to hail his performance as an athlete and his love for football. A design inspired by Usain Bolt, the boot was built for players with speediness and spontaneity like Samuel Eto’o.

After Cameroon’s debacle at the World Cup in South Africa due to Paul Le Guen’s inability to maintain discipline in the squad, there was dire need for a new coach to bring serenity, sanity, victories and regain the stripped off reputation. The Cameroon Football Federation , FECAFOOT may have chosen Spanish Javier Clemente to do this job but his appointment has inflamed mixed feelings across the entire nation of Cameroon and former internationals. The newly appointed coach therefore has an arduous task to revert our failures and restore our trust.

Cameroonian names like Francois Omam Biyik, Akono, Patrick Mboma were initially short-listed to handle the job but to my greatest dismay, Francois Omam Biyik was retained only as assistant coach.

Why not appoint a Cameroonian to coach  the Indomitable Lions ? Is the trending question amongst Cameroonians.

I   sometimes wonder if the ingenuity to coach the Cameroonian squad exclusively belongs  to  European coaches.

A local coach like Akono disproved this myth in 2000 when he won the Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney as coach of the Under 23 National team.

Jacques Songo who was appointed as interim coach for the international friendly against  Poland thrived with his tactics and  also made us believe a local coach can handle the job even better by crushing Poland by 3-0 in Szczezin on the 11th of August.

Eugene Ekeke, a former professional in France and member of the 1990 glorious squad, who also has the highest coaching diploma offered by the French Football Association told SuperSport.com:  “It’s a big disappointment for me. I believe that after decades of hiring foreign coaches to train the national team, Cameroon has the people who can do the job.

We have a lot of former players, both at home and abroad, who have the profile and necessary experience to train the Lions of Cameroon, so I don’t see why we have to go searching for foreigners every time.”

But another point of view is,  if a local coach is appointed, what will be Cameroonians’ reaction if the local coach loses matches ?. Let’s remember what happened to Wome Nlend when he missed a penalty that had to qualify Cameroon for the Germany 2006 World Cup. He received all kinds of death threats and that was the end of his career with the national team. What then will be the fate of a local coach who permanently resides  in Cameroon ?

Premier League club, West Bromwich Albion has concluded the signing of Cameroonian international , Somen A Tchoyi from Austrian club, Red Bulls Salzburg for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old midfielder who has been Austrian player of the year for two successive seasons with Red Bulls has signed for two years. The Albion scouting team has had a special eye on the Cameroon for two years.

The club were able to pursue a deal for Tchoyi when a Football Review Panel at the FA agreed to endorse their work permit application last month.

According to the Albion manager, Roberto Di Matteo , much is not expected  of Somen too soon as he has to take some time to adapt to English football. He however commends Tchoyi's massive physical presence in the field.