Clemente to Inject New Blood

The prospection of new talents is going to be an important aspect of the new coach’s job with the national selection.

The appointment of new coach always comes with new hopes and challenges; hopes of a new vision and greater achievements for the national team. Owing to the fact that players grow old and retire from the game, there is need for the constant flow of talents to replace the departing players thereby making selection into the national team highly competitive. In the words of Javier Clemente Lazaro, “If Eto’o is playing well today, he will retire from the game tomorrow just like Omam Biyick who used to be a very talented footballer, now turned coach. Hence there need for constant injection of new blood in the team”

Given the fact that local championships serve as a nursery for the grooming of young talents for the national selection, the prospection of players was made a cardinal issue in Javier Clemente’s contract with FECAFOOT and in what can be regarded as a clean break with the past when only players in the diaspora were deemed fit to play in the national team, the search for new blood this time, will also be conducted locally. For this to be effective, Javier Clemente will have to spend 10 days every two months in Cameroon to detect young talents in collaboration with his assistant, Omam Biyick who will permanently take up residence in Cameroon. Already, Clemente has identified some areas of research when he says Cameroon has so many midfielders but lack defenders who play in the wings. Though insisting on injecting new blood, Javier Clemente is keeping all options open saying he is willing to talk with all the players including the undesirables like Emana, Kameni and Alexandre Song, but insisting that only fitness and their mental form will determine their selection or non selection for the national team.

However, Clemente’s search for new talents is somehow limited in that other than talent, factors such as a good team spirit, patriotism and fighting spirit will henceforth be the guiding criteria for selection into the national team. He will no doubt benefit from support from his assistant, Omam Biyick who is conversant with Cameroon football and the Technical Directorate of national team which will have a data bank on home-based players thereby facilitating the job of selection for the coach.

Fred VUBEM TOH