Three days to the crucial encounter between Cameroon and Senegal, players and football authorities alike are making some last minute preparations. With the arrival of the Lions in the country who have taken up residence at the Mont Febe Hotel, preparations began in earnest with the first training session which was open to the public at the Mfandena sports complex. The training session was attended by over 3,000 fans craving the lions to obtain victory against Senegal next Saturday. The Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Michel Zoah, briefly witnessed the training session before withdrawing to his cabinet. All players called up for the encounter, have turned up but for Assou Ekotto and Aurelien Chedjou expected to arrive in Cameroon today. Another training session open to the public will take place tomorrow. While the other players went for training, Alexandre Song was with the medical staff of the national team for a counter medical examination to attest whether he is fit or not for the match against Senegal on Saturday June 4. The test will be conducted at the university teaching hospital, CHU and the Centre Pasteur in Cameroon.
The tactical aspect, the head coach Javier Clemente says, will be geared on the offensive given that Cameroon absolutely needs a victory. However the technical bench says they are not going to over work the players since most of the players of the national team have been very active with their clubs this season. According to the assistant coach of the national team, Omam Biyik, there will be only four training sessions altogether, one each day with each session not lasting more than one hour, thirty minutes.
On the practical side, the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium, the venue of the event, has witnessed a face lift. The green turf on the pitch has been trimmed, the grass outside the stadium cut whereas the stands have been cleaned up. Tickets for the encounter have been put on sale. In all there are 26 points of sale that have been established around town. The prizes range from FCFA 1,000 for the popular side to FCFA 40,000 for the presidential tribune. The Djeuga Palace hotel to host the Senegalese delegation is equally fine-tuning preparations to receive them. Same as the Hilton hotel to lodge officials. With the level of preparations carried out so far, one can now say the stage is set for the do or die encounter come June 4.
