Cameroon Keeper Kameni Joins Malaga from Espanyol

Idris Carlos Kameni, pictured here at a press conference with Cameroon, moves to Spanish Club Malaga

Cameroon national team goalkeeper, Carlos Kameni, has signed a two and a half year contract with Spanish Primera Liga club Malaga, sports websites reported on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old, who won the Olympic Gold medal with Cameroon in 2000, has had a tough time at Espanyol Barcelona this season.

Kameni had been rumoured to join Italian club, AS Roma, in August but the deal failed to happen and he has since been relegated to the bench at Espanyol.

Espanyol’s coach, Mauricio Pochettino, who was not expecting Kameni back in the team, had promoted his Argentinean compatriot Alvarez to number 1 keeper.

Kameni joined Espanyol in 2004 where he benefitted from the support and supervision of Thomas N’Kono, another great Cameroonian keeper who served the Catalan club as a player and later a coach.

At Malaga, Kameni would have to fight for the number one spot with Ruben Martinez and Wilfredo Caballero.

Malaga were bought over by wealthy owners who have brought in players like Rudd van Nistelrooy and Julio Baptista in a bid to contest the dominance of the Spanish League by FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

However, Malaga currently lie in sixth place and 18 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Cameroon’s Lionesses win Gold at All-Africa Games

Cameroon’s women have won All-Africa Games gold for the first time by beating Ghana 1-0 in the women’s football final at Maputo’s national stadium while the men’s (U-23) team won Bronze at the tournament.

Madeleine Mani Ngono headed in a cross in the 56th minute in the Ladies’ final that was played in front of a very small crowd, the BBC reported on Saturday.

“We’re very pleased, but Nigeria are still the best team in Africa,” said Cameroon coach Enow Ngachu.

The victory is Cameroon’s greatest achievement in women’s football, the BBC said (full match report here).

Meanwhile Cameroon’s men’s team beat Senegal 5-4 after post-match penalty-kicks in the third place play-off game. Both teams were tied at 1-1 after normal time, Cafonline reported.

Cameroon won this tournament thrice in a row (1999, 2003 and 2007) but their hegemony ended this year when Ghana defeated them 1-0 at the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Cameroon vs Senegal: Webo on the bench while Choupo, Moukandjo, Aboubakar start

Cameroon’s head coach Javier Selected has picked a team with more attack minded players to start against Senegal in Yaounde this Saturday.

He has included three youngsters: Aboubakar Vincent, Benjamin Moukandjo and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. They will support Samuel Eto’o while he dropped Aurelien Chedjou and Henri Bedimo to the bench.

Gaetan Bong replaces Assou-Ekotto at left back while the rest of the defence remains unchanged with Amgwa Benoit (RB) and the duo Nicolas Nkoulou and Stephane Mbia as centre-backs.

Enoh Eyong and Landry Nguemo will play in the midle of the pack.

Here is the team: Kameni ; Angbwa – Mbia – Nkoulou – Bong ; Nguemo – Eyong – Moukandjo -Choupo – Aboubakar ; Eto’o.

Cameroon versus Senegal Tactical Preview (Part 2)

I have not watched Cameroon train and the media have largely focused on side-events such as the tense relationship between Alex Song and Samuel Eto’o – which makes it hard to discuss coach Javier Clemente’s plans for Saturday.

Nevertheless, the Spaniard promised a more offensive game. Does that mean he would change his personnel to accommodate more attack-minded players than in Dakar?

A few reports have suggested that he is planning a 4-4-2 with Eto’o and Webo as the strikers, while the young, Monaco based forward, Benjamin Moukandjo (or Valenciene striker Vincent Aboubakar) would be fielded on the right flank. Unfortunately, the reports have not stated if Henri Bedimo (who plays left-back at Lens) would continue as left winger.

Clemente talks tactics with Choupo-Moting at half-time of Cameroon v Senegal, Dakar, 26 March 2011

If Clemente has effectively opted for 4-4-2 it would mean a greater use of the wings to stretch the game but it would also require the wide men to put-in inch-perfect crosses and have the ability to take their markers in one-on-one dribbles à la Valencia (Manchester United) to create space and allow the forwards to take suitable positions.

With only Webo as a good header of the ball against a Senegalese defence of very tall and physical players, banging ill-timed high crosses would be a fruitless strategy.

That formation would mean one-to-one battles in the midfield as opposed to the Dakar game while the Cameroon full-backs will be bereft of the protection from and extra midfielder. This would expose them to the trickery and pace of the Senegalese wingers (who are actually attackers).

THREE-MAN MIDFIELD

Moreover, this would not solve the key problem that Cameroon faced in Dakar which was lack of penetration from the centre. Nguemo was supposed to act like a box to box mid-fielder to support Webo but it didn’t quite work out.  Eto’o often had to retreat into central midfield positions to link up play. It’s a shame that Clemente did not retain Somen Tchoyi. He could have done this very well.

Nonetheless, I suspect Clemente would keep the shape of the team close to what we saw in Dakar  and play in a sort of 4-1-2-3. Sadly, Assou-Ekotto who adds an extra attacking dimension from full-back is an injury doubt.

I have not seen them practice so I can’t say for sure what coach’s choices would be. Using the 4-1-2-3 formation, here’s how I would field the players currently at his disposal against Senegal to ensure defensive balance, penetration from midfield as well as width and incisiveness from the attack:

A back four of: Benoit Amgwa (RB) – Nicolas Nkoulou (CB) – Sebastien Bassong (CB) – Gaetan Bong (LB).  Stephane Mbia (CM) to sit in-front of the back-four; Aurelien Chedjou (CM) and Landry Nguemo (CM) working box-to-box. A forward trio of: Benjamin Moukandjo (right) Samuel Eto’o (centre) and Maxim Choupo-Moting (left). The front-men can always switch positions.

Choupo-Moting and Moukandjo regularly play as wingers in their clubs (though they are strikers) and are technically good to cut-in from the flanks into the centre of attack (à la Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Di Maria). They are tactically aware enough to drop deep to form  a midfield 5 once Cameroon loses possession.

Nguemo, Mbia and Chedjou play more defensive roles in their clubs but in the past (especially at youth levels) they played in advanced positions for the national teams. They have the energy to do the box-to-box roles that is required of midfielders in such a formation to give thrust and penetration to attacks like Essien, Lampard used to do in Mourinho’s Chelsea.

The system is built on speed and power and thus accommodates the type of players Cameroon currently possesses when played in the Chelsea way rather than the Barcelona format which lays emphasis on technique.

But, I am not the coach. It’s down to Javier Clemente.

Here is part 1 of this preview that focuses on Senegal…

George Elokobi replaces Bong for Cameroon vs Senegal (updated)

*Adds news of Assou-Ekotto and Matip’s selection

George Elokobi, the Wolverhampton Wanderers defender, has been included in Cameroon’s squad to face Senegal on 26 March in Dakar. He is part of three-man additional list that includes Joel Matip and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. The list was published late Friday in Yaounde.

Elokobi recently told the British media about his deep wish to be called up to represent his native land has seen his efforts on the field pay-off.

He replaces the injured Gaetan Bong who was on the initial 23-man team summoned to camp Javier Clemente, the Spain-born head coach of Cameroon.

Many observers were surprised that Clemente had picked Bong in the first place, as it was well known that the defender  has been out of action for a month.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto of Tottenham Hotspur, who is probably Cameroon’s best left-back at the moment is also called up to defend his national colours.

A national team insider told Gef’s Football Club that Clemente is punishing Assou-Ekotto for perceived indiscipline but it now seems public and government pressure has swayed the Spaniard (see separate story on Gef’s Football Club).

Roger Milla, Cameroon’s football legend, had taken offence at Clemente’s decision to leave out some players who have been performing in their clubs on the grounds of discipline.

“Those who have compiled this list (team selection) do not like Cameroon. You cannot suspend players and claim to have the best team… If you want the best team, you call everyone,” Milla is quoted as saying.

However, as suggested by a poster on Gef’s Football Club, it is about time Cameroonians stop focusing on who’s absent and concentrate on supporting those included in the squad.

“Those who have been called up should take the challenge and make Cameroonians proud by bringing home all 3 points,” Ensah Bertrand said in a comment on a strory about Elokobi’s fortitude.

The man born in Mamfe, joins vice-captain Eyong Enoh and Mbuta Adongcho to bring to three the number of Cameroonians from the English-speaking part of the country who are part of the expedition to Dakar.

More tit-bits on Senegal v Cameroon to follow…

Fecafoot confirms 22 for Poland game

Cameroon’s foootball governing body (Fecafoot), on Monday, officially released the squad of 22 players to travel to Poland for an international friendly on August 11, 2010.

The list published on the Fecafoot website is exactly the same as the one which was disclosed by the Polish Football Federation, as reported here over the weekend.

It confirms that Idriss Kameni, Alex Song, Achille Emana, Geremi Njitap, Idrissou Mohammadou, Souleymanou Hamidou, Achille Webo have been axed.

Back-to-back trebles for Cameroon’s Eto’o

Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o has become the first player to win back-to-back trebles (League, national Cup and European Cup) with two different clubs after his Inter Milan defeated Germany’s Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the UEFA Champions League trophy.

Inter Milan had earler this month been crowned as Italian Champions and winners of the Italian Cup before Diego Milito Struck twice at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain to provide the club with its third European Champions title.

Eto’o, who provided the assist for Inter’s second goal, would have entered the annals of European football history as one of only two players to have scored in three European Club Cup finals had Diego Milito passed the ball back to him.

Nonetheless, his part in Inter’s victory has been welcomed by many Cameroonians who see it as proof that he was not as surplus to requirement as presented by his former club, FC Barcelona who shoved him off to the Italian club as a top-up to €46 million for the purchase of the Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

SPANISH PAIN

Lifting the Champions League trophy at the home ground of Real Madrid (his first club)  in the season after he was dumped by their fiercest rivals, FC Barcelona, must have created a swell of emotions and thoughts for the three-time winner of the coveted Cup.

He might have flashed-back to his days at Real Madrid, the team that bought him at the age of 16 but forgot  to send someone to pick him up from the airport. The team that constantly  loaned him out to lower league squads including Leganes and Espanyol Barcelona; never giving him a consistent run to show his worth.

With his green-red-yellow Cameroon flag tied around his neck, it might have considered that he was running about with a trophy that is so dear to Real Madrid that ceded him to Real Mallorca but nearly toppled his move to FC Barcelona in 2004 on the basis a  stake they still held in him.

A mix of things which caused a deep disdain for Madrid to the point that he spurted out a : “Madrid, cabrón, saluda al campeón” (roughly: “Madrid, bastards, salute the champions”), after winning the Spanish League title with FC Barcelona in 2005.

After five seasons at FC Barcelona, where he won three Spanish La Liga titles, two European Champions League trophies and scored 125  goals in 183 games,  the Catalan team sent him packing  in 2009 without much regard. He, however, contributed to the powerful defensive display by Inter that knocked-out Barcelona at the semi-finals of this season’s Champions League notwithstanding an attempted arrest on fiscal matters on his arrival with Inter in Barcelona for the game in April.

TOUGH SEASON

Victory must come as a real consolation for the 29-year-old who has  had to display professional rigour, discipline and humility to blend into Inter Milan’s system of play where he has been hailed more for his defensive acumen than his goal scoring credentials. It has been one of his lowest scoring seasons (only 12 goals in the Italian League) during which he had to play on the wings leaving Milito to shine as the multiple-scoring centre-forward.

Astute observers such as the football tactics website ZonalMarking have noted his immense contribution to his club’s success this season as confirmed by this analysis of the Bayern versus Inter Final:

“Samuel Eto’o will be praised for his defensive role, but he was a key part in the second goal. First he held off Badstuber, luring him into a crazy challenge he was never going to win. Then, he despatched the pass into feet for Milito. Finally, he got himself level with Milito and into the box, forcing Martin Demichelis to track him, rather than ’sweeping’ behind van Buyten. All this may sound fairly basic, but it is partly the fact that Eto’o is a forward playing out wide that helped him hold off the challenge, and then have the determination to get himself into the box. A winger may not have done the same.”

“Creating such a successful side with so many new recruits is a remarkable achievement, as is managing to transform goal-hungry forwards like Eto’o and Pandev into hard-workers defensively, even if some will complain that this is robbing the world of some exciting attacking play. But Mourinho’s brief was to win the Champions League, and he has done that,” the site added in reference to the tactical genius of Inter’s Portuguese-born manager Jose Mourinho.

After a few days of recess, Eto’o will join his team-mates of the national team who have already started preparations for the FIFA World Cup that opens in South Africa on 11 June.

Many fans hope he will be an inspiration to lead the team to glory on African soil and  expect to see the Eto’o who is a  free-scoring lead striker although he has been used on the left of a three-man forward line-up since Paul Le Guen took over as manager of Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions in July 2010.

Adebayor trains with Hawks to face the Indomitable Lions

Arsenal striker Emannuel Adebayor has trained with his mates of the Togolese national team ahead of their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cameroon built for Accra – Ghana. The captain of the Hawks (nickname of the Togolese team) could be seen in the video below jogging with the group and receiving tactical advice from their Belgian-born manager Jean Thissen.

When Adebayor was included in the selection called to camp for this game, many pundits suggested that he was merely going to serve as a morale booster for the rest of the players. They argued that Togo would not risk a club versus country row by playing the foward who is  recovering from a hamstring injurey that has kept him out of Arsene Wenger’s team for the past weeks. But a member of Togo’s techanical staff is quoted as saying that Adebayor did not make the trip for nothing. His presence in training so far suggests that he may well be involved Saturday’s confrontation.

Fans in West Africa are eager to watch a match-up between the Indomitable Lions’ Samuel Eto’o (three time African footballer of the year) and Emmanuel Adebayor who received the CAF African Player of the Year 2008 award in February. The last time the two faced each other while playing for their national teams was in January 2006 at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. Eto’o who had just returned from a knee injury led the Lions to a 2-0 victory (scoring and making an assist) against the Hawks who were on their way to the FIFA World Cup in Germany.