Le Guen leads contenders Cameroon to Angola

January 8, 2010

French coach Paul Le Guen looms large over a Cameroon team capable of winning a fifth African Nations Cup title in Angola this month.

The ‘Indomitable Lions’ are in Lubango-based Group D with Gabon, Tunisia and Zambia and the widespread view in the media is that the 1984, 1988, 2000 and 2002 winners will top the table with a scramble for the runners-up slot.

Assuming they reach the quarter-finals, Cameroon would most likely face title holders and six-time champions Egypt or Nigeria with the former the preferred opponent given the desire for revenge.

Cameroon suffered two losses to Egypt at the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana, 4-2 in an opening-round group match and 1-0 in the final with a mistake by veteran defender Rigobert Song leading to the Mohamed Aboutraika winner.

By the middle of last year the Lions had descended from Nations Cup silver medalists to a team in danger of not even making it to the first tournament staged by a Portuguese-speaking country.

Veteran German coach Otto Pfister quit after his assistant was fired and former national goalkeeper Thomas ‘Black Spider’ Nkono watched horrified as struggling Morocco forced a goalless draw in Yaounde.

Enter Le Guen, a stern, do-it-my-way 45-year-old with a proud pedigree topped by three consecutive French Ligue 1 titles with Lyon, on a short-term contract and his impact was immediate.

Seemingly ageless central defender Rigobert Song was the major casualty, losing his place in the starting line-up, and the captaincy to Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o.

Song eventually fought his way back into an injury-hit defence while Eto’o led Cameroon to victories over Gabon (twice), Togo and Morocco that ensured qualification for Angola and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Spain-based striker Achille Webo was recalled in another significant change and now Cameroon are being mentioned alongside Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt as potential winners of the January 31 Luanda final.

Down the years, Cameroon have always had a strong core and it remains today with goalkeeper Idriss Kameni, Song, midfielder Jean Makoun and three-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o.

Add a strong supporting cast plus the touchline insight of Le Guen and the wish of the Cameroon sports minister for a Yaounde victory parade early next month may well come true.

LUANDA (AFP)

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Strong French presence at African Nations Cup

January 5, 2010

There will be a strong French presence amongst the coaches at the African Nations Cup this month for the second consecutive tournament with five of the 16 in Angola hailing from the European state.

There were also five French handlers at the 2008 edition in Ghana although none survived to be involved in the first showcase of African football staged by a Portuguese-speaking country.

Jean-Francois Jodar (Mali), Roger Lemerre (Tunisia), Henri Michel (Morocco), Robert Nouzaret (Guinea) and Claude le Roy (Ghana) were the French representatives at the previous tournament.

And in Angola it will be the turn of Michel Dussuyer (Benin), Alain Giresse (Gabon), Paul le Guen (Cameroon), Herve Renard (Zambia) and Hubert Velud (Togo) to try and become the fourth French creator of champions.

Le Roy, a striking figure with flowing blond locks and now in charge of Oman, guided the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the 1998 Casablanca final.

Lesser known Pierre Lechantre was next to succeed, also with Cameroon, in 2000 and once again the runners-up were Nigeria after a Lagos penalty shoot-out.

Lemerre completed a unique double in 2004 when he lifted the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia to the top four years after steering France to the Euro title with a golden-goal triumph over Italy.

Le Guen, a French Ligue 1 title winner with Lyon, is well placed to succeed in Angola while his four compatriots will struggle to get their adopted countries beyond the first round.

Disciplinarian Le Guen inherited a mess when he took over Cameroon in the middle of last year from former national team goalkeeper Thomas ‘Black Spider’ N’Kono, who lasted just one game after unpopular German Otto Pfister quit.

The 45-year-old Frenchman elevated Inter Milan striker and three-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o to captain and predecessor, veteran central defender Rigobert Song, was axed from the starting line-up.

His bold moves paid off with Cameroon defeating Gabon in Libreville and Yaounde inside four days to rise from the bottom to the top of a 2010 World Cup-Nations Cup qualifying group.

Further wins at home to Togo and away to Morocco assured the Indomitable Lions not only of a place in Angola, but a record sixth appearance by an African country at the World Cup when South Africa stages the 2010 tournament.

Coaches from Portugal, Nigeria (two each), Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Malawi, Netherlands, Serbia and Tunisia complete the line-up for the January 10-31 Nations Cup in Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango.

LUANDA (AFP)

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Cameroon coast to record sixth World Cup appearance

November 14, 2009

Cameroon coasted to a 2-0 win in Morocco Saturday and clinched a record sixth appearance for an African team at the World Cup.

The ‘Indomitable Lions’ took a one-point lead over Gabon into the final round of Group A fixtures and stretched it to four by full-time as their only rivals for a place at the 2010 finals in South Africa fell 1-0 away to Togo.

Achille Webo put Cameroon ahead on 18 minutes in Fes and three-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o added a second soon after half-time against a poor Moroccan team.

Qualification was a personal triumph for French coach Paul Le Guen, who took over last August from German Otto Pfister with Cameroon bottom of the table having secured just one point from two outings.

But the highly successful former Lyon coach steered the four-time African champions to four consecutive victories and top place with 13 points followed by Gabon (nine), Togo (eight) and Morocco (three).

Cameroon booked a passage to South Africa a few hours after Nigeria topped Group B by winning 3-2 in Kenya and they join South Africa, automatic qualifiers as hosts, Ghana and Ivory Coast as African representatives.

Egypt or Algeria, who clash later Saturday at the Cairo Stadium, will fill the remaining place.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP)

Tags: achille, african champions, african footballer of the year, automatic qualifiers, cairo stadium, coach paul, consecutive victories, fes, footballer of the year, french coach, indomitable lions, Ivory Coast, moroccan team, otto pfister, paul le guen, personal triumph, rivals, samuel eto o, sixth appearance, world cup appearance

African teams vie to complete W.Cup line-up

September 7, 2009

Cameroon, Tunisia, Algeria and Ivory Coast are looking good to join Ghana and hosts South Africa and complete the African line-up at the 2010 World Cup.

Ghana become the first African team to secure a place at the first World Cup to be staged on the ‘Dark Continent’ with a 2-0 triumph win over Sudan in Accra at the weekend courtesy of goals from Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien.

Cameroon, Algeria and Ivory Coast also took maximum points during the fourth series of games in the final qualifying round while Tunisia hit back twice to force a 2-2 draw with Nigeria.

The impact of recently hired French coach Paul le Guen on Cameroon has been immediate and if the ‘Indomitable Lions’ defeat Gabon for the second time in five days Wednesday they will become Group A leaders.

Not bad for a team that fell in Togo, lost German coach Otto Pfister and managed only a goalless home draw with Morocco under caretaker Thomas N’knono before Le Guen answered a distress signal.

This mini-league is the tightest of the five with three points separating pacesetters Gabon from bottom team Morocco and if Cameroon can win their two remaining home fixtures it could be sufficient.

After tackling Gabon, the ‘Lions’ host Togo on October 10 before visting Morocco the following month as they seek a record sixth World Cup appearance by an African country.

Le Guen, winner of three consecutive French titles with Lyon this decade, gambled by dropping long-serving defender Rigobert Song and passing the captaincy to star striker Samuel Eto’o.

The results speak for themselves with a 2-0 friendly win in Austria followed by another two-goal triumph last Saturday in Libreville via goals from Achille Emana and three-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o.

Tunisia can clinch Group B honours if they beat Kenya at home and Mozambique away, an achievement that will be hard for Nigerians to accept after their shock failure to reach the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Nigeria have the same opponents with a visit from Mozambique followed by a journey to Kenya and if there is a glimmer of hope it would be that a fixture in Nairobi is probably easier than one in Maputo.

Banker may be a dangerous word to use in the unpredictable world of football, but it surely applies to Ivory Coast, who need one point from encounters with Malawi (away) and Guinea (home) to top Group E.

The Ivorian ‘Elephants’ share with Ghana a 100 percent record after four rounds and having routed Malawi 5-0 in Abidjan last March, there is no reason to doubt that they can take at least one point from Blantyre next month.

It looks like African champions Egypt will have to defeat Zambia (away) and Group C leaders Algeria (home) to have any hope of reaching South Africa as they trail their fierce North African rivals by three points.

This race may not even go to Cairo in mid-November because it seems far more likely that Algeria will defeat visiting Rwanda next month than Egypt will achieve a similar result in Zambia.

The five group winners qualify for the World Cup between June 11 and July 11 while the top three finishers in each mini-league go the African Nations Cup in Angola five months earlier.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP)

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Cameroon World Cup hopes fade after home draw

June 8, 2009

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Troubled Cameroon could only draw 0-0 at home to Morocco on Sunday and their hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa suffered another blow.

The Yaounde result left the ‘Indomitable Lions’ with a solitary point from two Group A outings and bottom of the table behind Gabon (six), Togo (three) and Morocco (one).

Cameroon hold the African record for World Cup appearances with five, but if they lose away to shock pacesetters Gabon on June 20 they can all but kiss goodbye to featuring in the first to be staged on the continent.

Veteran German coach Otto Pfister quit the ‘Lions’ a few weeks ago after his assistant had been secretly sidelined and replaced by three other local coaches.

Former national team goalkeeper Thomas N’kono, a member of the first Cameroon team to play at the World Cup 27 years ago in Spain, was hurriedly appointed caretaker coach.

But the ‘Black Spider’ watched helplessly from the sideline as Cameroon wasted several good scoring chances against opponents who appeared happy to escape with a point.

Daniel Kome from Spanish second division club Tenerife was the chief culprit when it came to wasted opportunities, failing to score with only goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri to beat as the first half wound down.

Cameroon supporters at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the capital city of the central African nation got a fright midway through the opening half when Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o had to leave the field through injury.

The three-time African Footballer of the Year recovered and was involved in a penalty appeal before half-time that was ignored by the Mauritian match officials.

Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu silenced his public and media critics at least temporarily with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 victory over Kenya in a Group B Abuja encounter.

After taking a second-minute lead through Ikechukwu Uche, the ‘Super Eagles’ survived several early second half scares before a couple of late goals from young Inter Milan striker Obinna Nsofor settled the outcome.

Nsofor converted a softly awarded penalty on 73 minutes and then unleashed a close range shot that flew over goalkeeper Arnold Otieno after the ‘Harambee Stars’ failed to clear a cross.

Tunisia lead the group with six points and host Nigeria (four) in two weeks while Mozambique (one) and Kenya (none) can forget South Africa and concentrate on third place and a ticket to the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola.

Benin collected their first Group D points thanks to a 1-0 win over poor travellers Sudan in Cotonou with striker Razack Omotoyossi the 21st-minute matchwinner.

The ‘Squirrels’ share first place on three points with group favourites Ghana, who will lack several injured stars when they face Mali in Bamako later Sunday.

Ivory Coast overtook Burkina Faso on goal difference at the summit of Group E after a 2-1 win in Guinea courtesy of goals from Baky Kone near half-time and Koffi ‘Romaric’ Ndri midway through the second half.

Sambegou Bangoura had levelled on 61 minutes for Guinea, whose French coach Robert Nouzaret was told by the military rulers of the west African state to plot a victory or face the sack.

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Pfister quits as Cameroon coach

May 28, 2009

YAOUNDE (AFP) – Veteran German coach Otto Pfister resigned as Cameroon coach on Wednesday after failing to join the squad for a training camp in Belgium the ministry of Sports confirmed to AFP.

The 71-year-old apparently resigned on the spot after an incident at the airport before they boarded their flight for Belgium according to an official of the national football federation (FECAFOOT).

However, she added that they had yet to receive an official letter of resignation from Pfister whilst not denying that he had given up the post which he took on in 2007.

The Ministry were not so reticent.

“The information is correct, but I cannot say anymore than that,” ministry spokesman Linus Pascal Fouda told AFP.

Pfister – Africa manager of the year in 1992 – has been under pressure since a 1-0 loss to Togo in a 2010 World Cup qualifier last March and three local coaches were appointed assistants this month.

Critics of the German include Roger Milla, plucked from semi-retirement on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion in 1990 at the age of 38 to score four goals as Cameroon reached the World Cup quarter-finals.

Pfister was a controversial appointment in October 2007, getting the nod from the sports ministry after failing to impress FECAFOOT, and guided Cameroon to second place behind Egypt in the African Nations Cup the following year.

Cameroon are in Belgium to prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Morocco in Yaounde on June 7 and Gabon in Libreville two weeks later with the Group A winners advancing to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.