Tche Irene Morikang
8 September 2008
With 13 points, four ahead of runners up Cape Verde, Cameroon will lead Group One of the on-going round of the joint qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations and World Cup, irrespective of the result of its last group match against the Mauritius Island on 11th of October in Yaounde. Last Saturday's 2-1 victory over Cape Verde propelled Captain Song and his mates into the final round of the qualifiers for the dual event.
The four victories and one draw registered so far is a laudable performance, especially if we have to go by the poor showing of some of the continent's football powerhouses. South Africa, for example, was last Saturday booted out of the race to the Nations Cup in Angola. The host of the 2010 World Cup will not play in the continental jamboree that comes five months before the global football bonanza in their homeland. Too bad!
The final lap of the joint qualifiers, which begins in March 2009 with 20 teams (12 group leaders of the current round and eight best runners up), will comprise five groups of four teams to play on a home-and-away basis. It will be the most difficult stage as Cameroon will certainly be facing other football giants of the continent.
And what more, it needs to head its group to qualify for the World Cup! The road to Angola and South Africa is therefore still very long and winding. The most difficult is yet to come. Wherefore, the need to judiciously use the five months ahead to clean the house and build a solid team. Its time to make sure all conditions are united for a veritable show of force by the Indomitable Lions.
Let's start with the team. Otto Pfister has, sor far, used 18 players in the qualifiers which began in May this year. The majority of players are the regulars of the national selection. The coach, no doubt, demonstrated his intention to open up by inviting new players to his camps. But just four of such new comers have integrated the team and only two used adequately during matches.
Does this mean the old brooms are still sweeping well? Or simply a phobia of breaking away from the status-quo? After the zero all tie against Tanzania in the third day of play, ink flowed. And there was unanimity that the team needs to be rejuvenated. Overhauled. This shouldn't be a problem as Cameroon is a vast reservoir of talents. The performance of new comers like Bebe Mbangue and Somen a Tchoyi are there to show. Now is therefore the time to put in place Cameroon's dream team for the 2010 expeditions.
Then we have the coach. Will Otto Pfister, who has publicly been denounced by the Cameroon Football Federation, continue to captain the ship of the Lions? The German has produced good results, no doubt. But his team has shown constant proof of a lack of cohesion and play style. If Pfister has to go, how soon will the changes come? And if he should stay, Cameroonians are looking forward to him creating synergy among the wealth of talents at his disposal. Cameroon needs a team, not a selection with star-packed individual talents.
And finally the need for discipline in the group. Players need to be well-organized and focused on and off the pitch. Picking up an unnecessary red or yellow card because of an overzealous action, can keep a valuable player off the pitch during a primordial encounter. On the other hand, there is need for cohesion between the principal stakeholders of Cameroon's football - the football federation and the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education.
Lincoln said in 1858 that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." Conclusion: divided, we are bound to fail. Wherefore the need to bury the hatchet, sink individual misunderstandings and suspicions for a more serene atmosphere.
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