Tche Irene Morikang
6 May 2008
It's a game and those who engage in it can come out with victory, a defeat or a draw. Victories can be sweet (when they are well deserved), unconvincing (wobbly play style), or hard earned (when the team had to sweat to grab it). In the same light, defeats can be honourable (when the team played well but couldn't make it) or expected (when a team puts on a poor show).
And so, Cameroon's intermediate national football team made up of local players, popularly referred to as A' Lions, was humbled last Sunday, 1-2, by their Gabonese counterparts during the away leg of the African Nations Championship qualifier in Yaounde. Surprising? Not at all. It is one of those defeats which could be classified as "expected". Reason: it was the logical outcome of inadequate preparation and cacophony that reigned in the Cameroonian squad prior to the event. "Garbage in, Garbage out", as we say in computer jargon.
Lets start with the players called up to defend our national colours. According to the coach, the team was not at its best. And why? Well, he says five players of Coton sport Garoua refused to heed to his invitation to join the national A' selection under the pretext that they were preparing for other "important" continental and national outings (Champions League and Cup of Cameroon). What insolence! Since when did clubs start preventing their players from joining a national team?
And what becomes of the sovereignty of national selections if clubs can despise them at will? Did the officials of Coton sport for one moment ask themselves what will become of the national team if all clubs had to selfishly hold back their players? What egoism! Astonishingly, the Cameroon Football Federation, which is expected to oversee the smooth functioning of the sector has been silent on the issue. Helpless? Easy therefore to think that the defeat of the A' Lions on Sunday was programmed.
Secondly, the instability of the technical bench is vexing. The A' Lions have had a succession of three coaches within the last seven months! Marius Omog, who coached the team last Sunday was only appointed two weeks before the tournament! We could not expect much from him; especially as he did not meet a homogeneous team at his beck and call. He had to build from scratch. Such incoherency and confusion could have been avoided if Otto Pfister, head coach of the national team respected his contract to the letter. In effect, coaching the A' team was part of the original contract of the German.
What went wrong for Alain Wabo to be assigned as interim of the A' team last February? And since Otto Pfister took his hands off the A' team (if ever he set his hands on it at all) has the financial aspect of his contract been looked into? "Small work, small money" as our people would say in Pidgin! In the meantime, Alain Giresse, the Pfister of Gabon, was busy building solid national teams (senior and A'). So, are we flabbergasted by his results? Definitely not. Last Sunday, the Panthers of Gabon were technically, tactically and physically superior to the Lions.
The second-rate performance of our team also brings to light the level of our national elite championship. The local players that make up the squad are apparently among the best in our Championship. And our best could not match Gabon's best. Conclusion: our championship is still not as competitive as it was yesteryears. That is, when the bulk of the players of the senior national team were fetched from local clubs.
Cameroon has a reputation in football which the young generation must strive to preserve for posterity. Some years back, it was simply inconceivable that a Gabonese team will beat the Lions in Yaounde! In fact, it would have sounded like a big joke. Are we sleeping on our laurels? Apparently, since Cameroon's football started experiencing dwindling fortunes, the name Lion no longer frightens. Even panthers now dance in the Lion's den!
However, it would be mind-blowing that an African "football powerhouse" like Cameroon fails to answer present at the first African Nations Championship, dubbed Afcan (the latest competition instituted by the Confederation of African Football), that holds next year in Côte d'Ivoire. The doors are not yet completely closed. And it is time we put all our energy to force the door to Côte d'Ivoire open.
Something should be done before the return match, and fast. The Cameroonian squad has to tackle the away encounter like true Lions. Not the meek and timid lions that we saw last Sunday.â-àLions which were easily devoured by panthers. It is our pride that is at stake!
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