They bowed 1-3 to Mali in their first outing in the African Youth Championship on February 16, 2015.

Cameroon got up to a poor start at the 11^th edition of the African Youth championship currently taking place in Niger. The U-17 Lions bowed 1-3 to Mali in the first Group B game yesterday at the Municipal stadium in Niamey. All the goals came in the second half after both sides separated on a zero-all tie at the end of the first half of play. Mali got the curtain raiser through Sangare who hammered in a splendid shot at the 49^th minute to beat goalkeeper Cedric Girex Djomo who before then had been impeccable making several crucial saves.

After the goal Cameroon stepped up their game and the good example came from the team captain, Martin Hongla who headed in a corner kick at the 61^st minute to rekindle the hope of his team mates. However, that hope was thwarted at the 79^th minute when substitute Sekou Koita again found the back of the net. At the full time mark, Boubacar Traore aggravated scores through a personal action in which he beat the entire Cameroon defense to hammer in another volley.

Mali’s victory was comprehensible given that they displayed technical superiority and the desire to win during the encounter. Cameroon must therefore win their next two matches so as to qualify for the knock out stage of the competition. Their second outing will be on February 19 against Cote d’Ivoire and the last group game will be on February 22^nd against the republic of South Africa.

Cameroon went to the tournament in Niamey with an objective to reach the semi finals which is synonymous to qualification for the world cup in that category to take place in Chile later in the year. The baby Lions were butted out from the qualifiers and only gained their qualification by winning a suit against Ghana for fielding an illegible player.