Indomitable Lions: The road to Qatar ⁰

Cameroon, one of the five teams that will represent Africa at the 2022 Qatar World Cup  this month is warming up, aiming at making the continent proud.

Cameroon, with its football national team Indomitable Lions is an African country lying at the junction of Western and Central Africa.

Its ethnically diverse population is among the most urban in Western Africa.  The capital city of Cameroon is Yaoundé, located in the south-central part of the country.

The country’s name is derived from Rio dos Camarões (“River of Prawns”)—the name given by the Portuguese explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Cameroon have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions, the first being in 1982 where they drew all three group games and finished in 17th position.

The country’s best performance at the world cup was in 1990, where they staged one of the most famous winning runs from an underdog. They made it through to the quarterfinals beating Argentina, Romania and Colombia along the way before being defeated 3–2 by England.

In 2010, they were Africa’s best hope, but they did not advance past the group stage, Cameroon qualified in 2014, and have again made it in 2022.

Did you know that

In the 2002 finals, Cameroon players were refused to wear sleeveless shirts.  FIFA considered Cameroon’s sleeveless shirts to be vests but not shirts which a player is required to wear under the FIFA Laws of the Game.

Earlier on, Cameroon had worn the shirts throughout the 2002 African Nations Cup and won the title. To meet the FIFA standards, the team found a nearest shop and acquired body tight shirts with sleeves and completed their first option.

Also in 1994, when Cameroon’s famous player of all times Roger Milla played his last match against Russia.

He was 42 years and 39 days old, a record for the oldest player at the World Cup that was surpassed in 2014 by Colombia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon who was 43 years old.

Milla is also the oldest player to have scored a goal at the World Cup.

This time the team will be coached by Rigobert Song, who is also a former professional football player. Song was appointed as Cameroon’s head coach in February 2022.

Renowned for his defensive skills during his playing career, Song holds the record of the most capped player in the history of Cameroon’s national team with a total of 137 appearances.

The Indomitable Lions, housed in pool G will play Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil.
To achieve this, Cameroon should rely on its strong men of the moment. According to FIFA, the top scorer of the CAN 2021, Vincent Aboubakar will be the anchor of the Lions in Qatar and Zambo Anguissa, the player to watch.

Cameroon has some players to watch in all corners like Andre Onana, Collins Fai, Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko Ekambi and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Culled from Ktpress.rw