Cameroon left out long-serving centre back Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui from their squad for the World Cup in a shock omission as coach Rigobert Song named his 26-man selection for Qatar on Wednesday.

The coach also surprisingly included two home-based players — Souaibou Marou and Jerome Ngom — who had won their first caps just hours before in a friendly against Jamaica.

The team will be captained by Vincent Aboubakar, who competed as a teenager at the 2010 World Cup and again in Brazil in 2014 when the Indomitable Lions last appeared at the finals.

It will also be a third World Cup for defender Nicolas Nkoulou, 32, and Bayern Munich attacker Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting, who is 33-years-old.

Nkoulou made a comeback to the team in September after a five-year absence, having retired from the side after they won the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ngadeu was also a member of that team but had remained a regular for Cameroon since. He was omitted for the last round of friendly matches two months ago and left out again for the trip to Qatar.

Song gave no explanation for the axing of the 31-year-old Belgian-based centre back at a hastily arranged news conference on Wednesday, where reporters were given short notice of the intention to name the squad.

Song also included teenage goalkeeper Simon Ngapandouetnbu, who is on the books of Olympique de Marseille but yet to play a senior match. He is the only uncapped player in the squad.

Cameroon will play in an eighth World Cup — a record number of appearances for an African nation — and take on Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in Group G, with their first game on Nov. 24.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Devis Epassy (Abha Club), Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Olympique de Marseille), Andre Onana (Inter Milan)

Defenders: Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese), Collins Fai (Al Tai), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris Salonika), Tolo Nouhou (Seattle Sounders), Christopher Wooh (Stade Rennes)

Midfielders: Martin Hongla (Verona), Pierre Kunde (Olympiakos), Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Samuel Oum Gouet (Mechelen), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli)

Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Al Nassr), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenhua), Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting (Bayern Munich), Souaibou Marou (Coton Sport), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford), Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu (Young Boys Berne), Jerome Ngom (Colombe Dja), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys Berne), Karl Toko Ekambi (Olympique Lyonnais)

Culled from Reuters

The Indomitable Lions are expected to be the first African team to arrive Qatar, a spokesman for the Francophone dominated Cameroon Football Federation said today at the Nsimalen International airport.

Cameroon Concord News understands all 32 teams will be located in top class facilities in base camps throughout the Qatar.

Following the arrival of the Indomitable Lions, the best team in Africa, the rest of the teams will descend on Qatar and will check in at their respective Team Base Camp Hotels at least five days before their first matches. The World Cup will be played from November 20 to December 18.

The giants of Africa will begin their 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament with a soccer match against the Switzerland national football team on 23 November 2022 at Al Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah. 

As part of the unique features of the FIFA World Cup 2022, there is no requirement of domestic flights or long hours of travelling. That will mean all the teams will be using the same residence and training facilities throughout the tournament, with all the teams being given access to similar top-class facilities at Team Base Camps. The extremely compact nature of Qatar 2022 will see 24 out of the 32 teams based within a 10km radius of each other.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde with files

With less than three weeks to go before their first group stage match and courtroom drama swirling in the background, Cameroon’s national football team has finally unveiled the jerseys they’ll wear at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) unveiled the kits on Saturday, November 5. They’re made by One All Sports, a company that until recently had focused mainly on motorsports apparel.

The home kit is green, with a darker green pattern on the chest. The standup collar is red, while the sleeve cuffs have green, red and yellow stripes with a yellow star in the middle of the red stripe to mimic the Cameroonian flag. The Fecafoot logo appears on the right chest, while a lion crest (the national team’s nickname is the “Indomitable Lions”) sits on the left chest. One All Sports’ logo sits in between.

The dark green chest pattern and flag sleeve cuffs carry forward to both the white away kit and the red third kit, as do the crests on the chest. The away kit features a white standup collar, while the third kit collar is green.

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Each shirt has a matching pair of shorts with the same base colour and a dark green pattern down each side.

A red goalkeeper kit was also unveiled on Saturday. It features a tonal pattern of geometric shapes down the front and solid red raglan sleeves.

Cameroon’s kits have been the subject of a legal battle leading up to the World Cup. Fecafoot previously had a contract with French manufacturer Le Coq Sportif for their national team kits, which they wore as recently as the men’s Africa Cup of Nations in early 2022 and the women’s Africa Cup of Nations over the summer. But the federation unilaterally ended that contract early in July 2022 and then signed a contract with One All Sports in August.

Le Coq Sportif took Fecafoot to court to force them to honour the original terms of their contract, which ran through December 31, 2023, and included the World Cup. On Thursday, November 3, a judge ruled in favor of Le Coq Sportif, saying the contract was still valid. Fecafoot has indicated that it will appeal the decision.

In the meantime, however, Le Coq Sportif has stood down and will not continue the legal dispute during the World Cup. “We will not put the players and staff of the Indomitable Lions in an uncomfortable situation before and during this event. They must be able to give the best of themselves to thrill the Cameroonian people,” a statement from the company reads, according to BeIn Sports.

But the statement also says Le Coq Sportif will continue the fight once the tournament concludes.

Culled from News.sportslogos.net

Not many football pundits and fans picked Cameroon to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The Indomitable Lions were pitted against perhaps Africa’s best team at the time – Algeria. However, as the Cameroonian saying goes, ‘L’impossible n’est pas Camerounais!’ (The impossible is not Cameroonian!)

A last-gasp goal deep in stoppage time by Cameroon’s Lyon striker, Karl Toko Ekambi shattered the North Africans’ hope leaving Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi inconsolable; Cameroon erupted for joy as they booked a flight to Qatar 2022. The match ended 1-2 in favour of Cameroon and 2-2 on aggregate, but the Lions qualified thanks to two away goals despite losing the first leg at home by a lone goal.

It is a new era for Cameroonian football, with former players taking administrative and coaching positions. Legend Samuel Eto’o recently became president of the football federation in December last year. At the same time, another national icon and former defensive stalwart, Rigobert Song, will lead the team as coach to the eighth World Cup appearance. Song replaced Toni Conceiçao in March, just before the World Cup playoff. Conceiçao had led the team to third place at AFCON earlier this year.

Cameroon will kick off their Qatar 2022 campaign when they take on Switzerland in their Group G opener at the Al Janoub Stadium on November 24. The 1990 quarter-finalists will also play Serbia at Al Janoub on November 28 and five-time champions Brazil at the Lusail Stadium on December 2.

The Indomitable Lions have failed to replicate the historic highs of the Roger Milla-led 1990 team that reached the quarter-finals amid impressive victories over Argentina and Colombia. They have also been to the 1982, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 editions but have scaled past the group stages. Cameroon have won only one game at the World Cup since 1990, a 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia in 2002.

After missing out on Russia 2018, the pressure on the likes of Vincent Aboubakar, Toko Ekambi, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, André Onana and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, to lead the team to glory is palpable, especially from Eto’o.

“During last week’s General Assembly, we came together to discuss the road ahead for Cameroonian football. We must seize every opportunity, nationally and internationally. We’ve made it to the World Cup, not to play extras but to dominate all 7 matches and bring home the trophy,” Eto’o posted on his Twitter handle back in August.

However, recent results mean Song has a lot on his plate if the team’s goal is to enter the world cup in the best form. They lost back-to-back friendlies in September. A shock 2-0 defeat to minnows Uzbekistan was followed by another 1-0 loss to South Korea.

The 46-year-old Song, Cameroon’s most-capped player, coached the under-23 team before his promotion. He had led the home-based team to a forgettable African Nations Championship in 2018. The latest defeats have not done much to quell several opinions about Song’s ability, but the former Liverpool man seems sure the team will not repeat past mistakes.

“The World Cups follow each other but are not the same. The past is the past,” Song told FIFA.

“Today, there is a new dynamic; there are new projects and leaders. I can tell you that we will not be subject to the same issues we faced in Brazil.”

With latest additions like former France under-21 international Bryan Mbeumo, who has switched allegiance to his father’s home country; the brilliant goalscoring form of Bayern Munich’s Choupo-Moting, and the constant presence of Aboubakar and Toko Ekambi, perhaps the famous phrase ‘L’impossible n’est pas Camerounais!’ may be an anchor for the Indomitable Lions after all.

Cameroon play Jamaica today in a friendly in Yaounde before a final warm-up against Panama on November 18.

Culled from The Peninsular

Indomitable Lions have been drawn in group G at the World Cup and will face Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland. They have played at the tournament more than any other African side, competing seven times since their debut in 1982.

The Qatar World Cup will be Cameroon’s eighth such competition and marks a return to the global stage after missing out on a place in Russia four years ago.

This time around, the Indomitable Lions booked their World Cup place in dramatic fashion. They came top of their initial CAF group, finishing two points ahead of Ivory Coast after winning five of their six matches.

The Lions then faced a strong Algeria side in their CAF play-off and lost the first leg 1-0 at home. Winning 1-0 in Algeria and with the match in extra-time, they conceded a 118th-minute equaliser and looked to be destined to miss out again. Karl Toko Ekambi then became the nation’s hero, scoring the all-important winner in the 124th minute of the match.

The Indomitable Lions most recent international squad contained several names that followers of European football will be familiar with. Inter Milan’s Andre Onana is their No 1 goalkeeper, Napoli’s Andre-Frank Anguissa is a standout option in midfield and captain Vincent Aboubakar has played top-flight football in Portugal, Turkey and France.

Brentford’s France-born Bryan Mbeumo has recently switched his nationality too, picking up his first Cameroon cap in September.

Lions most recent international squad

Goalkeepers: Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Marseille), Devis Epassy (Abha), Andre Onana (Inter Milan).

Defenders: Darlin Yongwa (Lorient), Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris), Christopher Wooh (Rennes), Oumar Gonzalez (Ajaccio), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Collins Fai (Al-Tai), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese).

Midfielders: Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Georges Mandjeck (Nea Salamis), Pierre Kunde (Olympiacos), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona), Samuel Gouet (Mechelen), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Jean Onana (Lens).

Forwards: Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Leandre Tawamba (Al-Taawoun), Vincent Aboubakar (Al-Nassr), Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford).

Cameroon’s recent call-ups

Goalkeepers: Simon Omossola (Vita Club).

Culled from The Athletic.com

Cameroon may be barred from participating in the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The country is involved in a legal battle with kit company Le Coq Sportif after terminating their contract.

A Paris commercial court has ordered the company to continue to produce kits for the Indomitable Lions, a ruling backed by FIFA. There are concerns in Cameroon over a legal battle that could see the Indomitable Lions miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

 Fecafoot – the Cameroon Football Federation – are reportedly having a showdown with kit and equipment supplier Le Coq Sportif.  The Paris commercial court intervened in the dispute and ordered the squad to wear Le Coq Sportif shirts at the World Cup.

Complete Sports confirmed that FIFA supported the ruling and urged Le Coq Sportif to continue supplying their equipment to the country. FIFA was possibly angered by Fecafoot earlier decision to terminate the French kit company’s contract and partnering instead with One All Sport, an American company.

Cameroon’s lawyer, Barrister Ntimbane Bono, in a chat with Actu Cameroon, stated that the move could get the country expelled from the forthcoming World Cup. “A refusal to execute the decision by Fecafoot could lead to the disqualification of Cameroon from this World Cup, which one should not forget it’s a FIFA activity.”

Cameroon are in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Brazil. The Indomitable Lions are scheduled to face Switzerland in their first game of the tournament on November 24.

Source: Complete Sports

When Andre Onana plays in goal for Cameroon at the World Cup it will be exactly one year since his return from a drugs ban that he is still struggling to bounce back from.

The 26-year-old spent nine months on the sidelines after banned diuretic furosemide was found in his urine.

He took his wife’s prescription medicine, after looking for an aspirin to quell a headache, and his explanation was accepted on appeal when the ban was cut from a year to nine months.

“A stupid mistake,” he has said, although adding: “There is little humanity in football. We are obviously not allowed to make mistakes and are treated like robots. A hard lesson.”

The incident brought an abrupt halt in January 2021 to a career that was blooming at Ajax Amsterdam where he was fast establishing himself as one of the best keepers in Europe.

Onana has not played nearly enough football since.

Ajax used him sparingly on his return in November last year when it was clear he was not going to re-sign for the club, looking to run out his contract to move elsewhere.

He joined Inter Milan in the close season but played second fiddle to Samir Handanovic in Serie A while being fielded in the starting lineup in the Champions League.

It was with Ajax in Europe’s elite club competition that Onana had come to prominence, an integral part of the team that went from the early preliminary knockout rounds to the 2019 semi-finals, before a dramatic elimination by Tottenham Hotspur.

“A natural talent, an unbelievably brilliant athlete,” is how former Ajax coach Erik ten Hag described him.

Onana started out in Samuel Eto’o’s academy before moving to Barcelona’s La Masia aged 14. The Spaniards sold him to Ajax in 2015 when he was only 18 and a season later he was in the first team, going on to play more than 200 times for the Dutch giants.

His international career was slow getting off the ground with Onana turning down a call-up for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals, seeking to put club before country, and missing out as the Indomitable Lions proved surprise winners.

That, however, was quickly forgiven and he has played at two Cup of Nations finals since and, once he was back from the drug ban, made some telling saves to help conclude Cameroon’s successful World Cup qualification.

Source: Reuters

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

Coach Rigobert Song announced on Sunday a list of 26 players for a pre-FIFA World Cup friendly against Jamaica.

The list is entirely made up of home-based players, who will camp from November 2-10 and play Jamaica on November 9.

Song wants to include three local players in the final squad for the FIFA World Cup and hopes that the game will help him make the right selection, according to football analyst James Ndiba.

“This will be a farewell game before the Indomitable Lions leave for Qatar, so everyone is surprised and asking why Song is testing local players on the eve of the world’s major football tournament,” Ndiba said.

“But I think it is the right thing to do if he must select the correct home-based players. We already know the performance of most of the Cameroonian players playing professional leagues out of the country,” he added.

Cameroon has been drawn in Group G with Switzerland, Serbia and five-time world champions Brazil. The Indomitable Lions will kick off their group stage against Switzerland on November 24.

Source: Xinhaunet

FECAFOOT held a spectacular Ballon d’Or ceremony Saturday night to honor local female and male footballers.

The ceremony held in the capital city of Yaounde was attended by nation’s football legends, government officials and diplomats.

“This is an incredible football event for Cameroonian football and will bring local players to the limelight,” said anti Anglophone and controversial Ernest Obama, spokesperson of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT).

Football legend and the FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto’o said the ceremony marked “a turning point” in Cameroon’s football which is undergoing “a clear revolution” under his leadership.

Souaibou Marou, playing for local side Coton Sport of Garoua, won Cameroonian Ballon d’Or 2022 in the male category, while Monique Ngock, playing for local club Flight FF, won in the female category.

By Xinhuanet with additional editing from Cameroon Concord News