Mummified Lions of Cameroon: Will they Withstand the Bullets of Zambia?

By Innocent Chia

If ever a greater irony there was it is this: Cameroon's national football is the most common denominator in the land, but it is also the point of least agreement. Cameroonians are known to bury their political hatchets, ethnic and class differences when their Lions are playing. But talk to any number of Cameroonians and they will never be agreed on several things concerning the team - its composition, coaching staff, intervention of the political elite in the team's management, style of play or lack thereof etc. The differences even go as far as the motives for which different groups and individuals are watching the team; a point that we will revisit much later. Whatever the case, the heated discussions and disagreements surface mostly when the Lions suffer a humiliating trouncing, such as bowing to the Pharaohs of Egypt (2-4) at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana.

Cocky Cameroonian fans were bragging that their international selection with big time stars would simply erase the team of Egyptian unknowns. After all, of the 23 Lions selected there are 19 playing professional football Europe, including Eto'o Fils, FIFA's chosen face for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As for the rest of the squad, one plays in Asia, another in South America and one other in Tunisia. A whopping total of 01 player is based in Cameroon, and as second reserve goalkeeper Janvier Charles Mbarga of Canon of Yaounde will definitely not be seeing the field of play during this tournament.Team captain Song greets the Prime Minister while Eto'o awaits his turn...to take over the team.

Ballooned by the professional status of the squad, its supporters entitled themselves to a sweeping victory over the Pharaohs. But that was on paper that they were Indomitable. On the field of play they were Paper Lions mummified by the Pharaohs. The Indomitable Lions and its supporters failed to revisit the tell-tell signs of recent history and how the Pharaohs have been making their lives a living hell. Cameroon forgot that they failed to attend the World cup in 2006, which would have made it their fifth consecutive trip, because of a 1-1 tie with the Pharaohs in Yaounde. A win against the Pharaohs would have crushed the hopes of the Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire from attending its first ever World Cup tournament. Helas! The Lions, after failing to secure wins against Sudan, the weaklings of the group, roused expectations that beating the Pharaohs handily in Cairo on the away leg could be equated with another victory at home, in Yaounde. They were wrong. They stayed home and watched the World Cup in 2006 from afar.

What explains the success of the Pharaohs over the Lions? They are a team that has had a lot of playing time together. Of 23 players in the selection there are 17 of them playing in Egypt. Only five (5) of the players play professionally outside of Egypt. It is also noteworthy that most of the 17 players play either for Al-Ahly or for Ismaily. This gives the team great potency because of the cohesiveness that has been rehearsed over and over again. Compare this to the 23 juggernauts that make up the Lions and you know you just brewed a panache for yourself. Besides, the offensive linemen of the Pharaohs were riding an express train on the field while the fatigued defensive lineup of the Lions was riding on the back of motorcycles. The main sweeper for the Lions, Rigobert Bahanag Song has been ripe for retirement since the 1998 world cup tournament and may just constitute another liability against the Zambia Chipolopolo (the Copper Bullets) on Saturday.

Like the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Copper Bullets are not to be taken lightly by the limping Lions of Cameroon. While the Copper Bullets are without the impressive five (5) African Cup of Nations trophies that prefixes the Egyptian squad, they have ambition and determination to go past their 2 times runners up resume of 1994 and 1974. All they need to do in the game is to triple team Eto'o Fils and pray that the rest of the Cameroonian team remains true to character and stay without a goal. They pull a draw against Cameroon. But it is my suspicion that they will be going for more. And there is motivation to go for more. In a telephone conversation with the team after its 3-0 victory over underdogs Sudan, the Zambian Vice-President Banda said Cameroon could easily be beaten because they were playing 'big names' while Zambia was dependant on all her players, regardless of their status.
“Yes! Yes! It’s very possible to beat Cameroon on Saturday. We are playing players not names,” he said. “The team played well in the Sudan match and made Zambians proud and all the people including the government leaders are behind them," he said.

That is the hard part for the Lions of Cameroon. The Indomitable Lions is a team that has adoring supporters. But it is also a team that is despised by many Cameroonians because the exploits of the team are used for political gain by the good-for-nothing ruling elite. Avid observers of the political arena in Cameroon will point to time after time when the Executive has taken advantage to sneak-in unpopular legislation while the population is a distracted with a competition involving its national team. The current attempt at passing legislation that will guarantee a life presidency for Paul Biya is a case in point. Will the Lions cash in on the PM's promise of 73 million francs each?

This explains why so many Cameroonians literally go on their knees praying to their God that the team's performance should be mediocre. Many a times, the prayer is for the team not to qualify at all because national life grinds to a standstill. But in the background of the stillness there are all kinds of machinations by the ruling political class and its hand-clapping, rubber stamp stolen majority at the National Assembly. Football is not always football.
Whatever be the case, the Lions of Cameroon and the nation need to face up to certain realities:
1) The squad is a disjointed one that needs to be demolished. There are very few players on that team that deserve to continue playing for the enjoyment of soccer lovers.
2) There are some of the players, including team captain Rigobert Song and Geremi Njitap that deserve to go on retirement. They have given their best and need to move on and keep themselves for club football.
3) A new selection must be put together if the country qualifies for South Africa 2008. That selection must include at least 50 percent of local players that should be full starters. This has the benefit of growing the local league.
4) The Cameroon Football federation and the Ministry of Sports need to build befitting infrastructure in which the team can train. There is no reason for Cameroon not to have good stadia after all the money earned from 5 world cup participations.
5) Cameroon can find a coach from within the ranks of all its star players of yesteryears and stop importing coaches that produce little results.

Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist.
Email: innochia@gmail.com