A New Team in Gestation
The matches against Poland and Mauritius Island gave a glimpse of the configuration of the new Lion’s squad.
With the disastrous ousting of the Indomitable Lions from the World Cup in South Africa, Cameroon embarked on a process of reconstructing a new national team that can restore the glorious past, when the name Indomitable Lions was synonymous to victory or fighting to a finish. The reconstruction process entailed acquiring a new coach, the relegation of some players who have grown old and the injection of new blood into the squad. The reconstruction process did not only entail a change of players but also the adoption of a new institutional framework to enhance the performance of the players notably the creation of a technical directorate for national teams and the adoption of the internal rules and regulations for the main national team, the Indomitable Lions.
As concerns the rejuvenation of the squad, work actually started even before the appointment of Javier Clemente Lazaro as new coach of the Indomitable Lions given that the lone surviving official at the technical bench of the Lions, Jacques Songo’o had left out eight players who took part in the South African expedition in the squad that took on Poland in a friendly. Before then there was the withdrawal of the erstwhile emblematic captain of the national team, Rigobert Song, which symbolically marked the end of one generation and the beginning of another. As it stands, the national team now has three categories of players; the departed, old guard and newcomers. Among the departing players are players like Geremi Njitap, Carlos Kameni, Souleymanou and Idrisou Mohamadou. Among the old guard are players like Eto’o Fils, Jean II Makoun, Bikey and to a lesser extent, Stephane Mbia. There are however those who newly arrived but who because of their talents sound like old timers in the national team. Among them are players like Nicolas Nkoulou, Eyong Enoh and Assou Ekotto. Outside these, there are a host of young talents knocking at the doors of the national team like Choupo Moting, Joël Matip, Vincent Aboubakar, Abouna Ndjana, Hugo Nyame, Joslain Mayebi, Georges Mandjeck, who constitute the feature of the national team.
The possibility of finding some new faces in the national teamor some faces disappearing for ever remains high given the declarations of Javier Clemente when he took over office. The new coach said he was keeping every option open as all the positions of the national team are under contention and that only merit will be the criteria for selection.
