Cohesion, the play style of the team and some compartments still leave much to desire.

The 2-1 win of the Indomitable Lions over the Hawks of Togo in Yaounde on Saturday March 23 rekindled hope of making it to the last phase of the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The victory, thanks to two goals from team’s captain, Samuel Eto’o, in both halves, catapults the team to six points.

Saturday’s victory was fruit of commitment and courage on the part of players. Their determination to part ways with defeats and once again reconcile with their fans, was a force that kept the boys on even when the going proved tough with the equaliser from the Togolese team in the dying minutes of the first half. The salvation goal, from Eto’o is testimony to this.

But the play style of the Cameroonian team during Saturday’s game raised more fears as to the team’s capability to live up to the billing. The team was simply a shadow of what it used to be. Very few players, talented as they are in their professional clubs, took individual moves to beat life into the near lack lustre game.

Again, the fighting spirit known of the team in the yesteryears is still visibly lacking. This is further compounded by lack of cohesion between the mid-field and attack line, on one hand, and the defence and midfield on the other. In fact, the team is yet to flow smoothly in their play style. It couldn’t have been otherwise given the team’s recent history. For over the years, successive trainers have been changing players from one match to another in the name of prospecting.

Saturday’s game had two novices. Goal keeper, Charles Itanje and mid-fielder, Joel Matip.  It was the first time the two players were starting an official game with the team. Their debuts were not bad either but some hesitations were noticed not only from them but also from others even when they needed to play faster.

If the Nicolas N’koulou and Jean-Armel Kana Biyik pair at the central defence is increasingly yielding fruit, the same is yet to apply in the mid field and the attack. While the technical bench would need to work harder for the players to play as a team in all compartments, there seems to be a hard knock to crack to give the team the wingers it needs. This is certainly what Jean Paul Akono and others, if they are maintained, would need to work on, especially for the three remaining games which seem tougher than what the team has had thus far. They will next play Togo in Lomie in June, DRC Congo in Congo before rounding off the qualifiers in Yaounde against Libya.

The much needed cohesion on the field of play is expected to begin with stakeholders of the game, the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, the federation and the players so that all look at the same direction and focus to achieve a common goal, that of going to Brazil in 2014 to right the wrongs of South Africa 2010.