After shredding the Copper Bullets of Zambia and drowning the Nile Crocodiles of Sudan, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will be having a face-off against the 2004 African Nations Cup title winners, the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia. The quarter final encounter between both teams comes exactly eight (8) years after their last semi-finals encounter at the 2000 African Nations Cup that was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, both jointly replacing Zimbabwe. The Indomitable Lions chewed-up the Carthage Eagles in that encounter, with Eto'o Fils scoring one of many goals leading to his top scoring position in the history of African soccer. Will history repeat itself in favor of the Indomitable Lions or will the Tunisian side maintain the momentum of their recent dominance in the arena?
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Coming off a humbling defeat at the hands of the Egyptian Pharaohs the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon regained its poise as a serious contender to tie Egypt for a fifth title of the African Cup of Nations. But skeptics of the team's prowess have been fast pointing out that the wins over Zambia and Sudan were expected easy wins for the team. Although both nations did not pose serious trouble for the Lions, they continued exposing the deficiencies of the Lions. On more than one occasion against Sudan, the sweeping defender for the Lions, Rigobert Song found himself upfront when the Sudanese offensive machine was in his backyard. An Eto'o Fils playing against the Cameroon side would have had a field day with the opportunities that were squandered by the Nile Crocodiles and thankfully saved by the vigilant keeper Kameni. But the defense was not alone. The midfield was almost non-existent for the Lions. Most of the players were cramped up front, leaving the middle ripe for explosive offensive counter-attacks. These areas could be exploited by the more agile and experienced offensive line of Tunisia with the duo of Francileudo Dos Santos and Amine Chermiti.
Ardent supporters, however see otherwise and have been re-energized by what they describe as convincing victories by the Lions. So, in a speak common to Cameroonians, "on ne change pas une equipe qui gagne" - there is no need to make changes to a winning team. Besides, they are confident that the low-scoring performance of the two qualifying group D teams, Tunisia and Angola, would abode well for the Lions that are averaging close to 3.5 goals per game. The Lions have a uphill task to continue the goal-fest against the Tunisian side on Monday, February 4th, 2008.
Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com
1 comment:
Beautiful analysis about the Lions. I believe if they had trained as a team before the game with Egypt it would have made a difference. I don't know about Song Banana, he has been a great player but i think he needs to retire or should he? Lets keep our fingers crossed on the quater finals and defeat this North Africa/European guys... so they claim. Thanks once again Mr journalist. '9'
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