TIPS ON HOW TO DEFEAT CAMEROON IN OUR CRUCIAL WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCH

By Fenny J. Fwa
I have watched the match between Cameroon and Zambia for the purpose of looking at the strengths and weaknesses of Cameroon which will assist us subdue them in our forthcoming qualifying match and it will be played on Cameroonian soil.

For for us to make any sense of this analysis, we have to look at our previous encounters. Based on the 20 times we met with Cameroon, Nigeria won 10 times, drew 6 times, while Cameroon won 4 times. But we shouldn't be deceived by this statistics. Most of these matches were won in the sixties and seventies, but from the eighties and to up to date,Cameroon has been our albatross in recent crucial encounters. In 2000 final of the nation's cup encounter between Nigeria and Cameroon and played in Nigeria, we drew 2-2 in the 90 minutes and extra time, but they painfully won the crucial encounter in the penalties and took away the cup. In 1989, we needed a draw to qualify for the 1990 World Cup but again in the crucial encounter between us and Cameroon, they defeated us by 1-0 in Yaounde. These are the stark realities

But watching Cameroon played Zambia at home, with exception of their physical and robust play, the team is a complete shadow of itself. The Zambians were better in the first half and virtually dominated the first half with incisive movements and that paid of as they were crowned with a beautiful goal. Cameroon woke up from their slumber and got an equalizer in the last minute of the second half through a dubious or soft penalty. In the second half, Cameroon came out smoking and completely dominated the match but the tactical defensive formation of the Zambians and their lack of finishing power prevented the Cameroonians from adding another goal.

These are the clearly the strengths and weaknesses of Cameroon our technical crew need to watch out for.

1. The Cameroonians as usually parade big and strong players with incredible stamina. These showed in the match.
2. They have 2 players that have to be neutralized Aboubakar and one kaote and I think he is the number 10. Aboubakar is the most dangerous, not only did he convert the penalty, he is a box to box player, winning balls, contesting for balls and making incisive passes.
3. their back four are a bit solid and well organized and can frustrate our attackers.
4. they lack finishing power, creative players and ball jugglers.
5. we should be wary of match officiating. As I said earlier the penalty was questionable. Honestly the officiating left much to be desired. I saw a Zambian being physically held by Cameroonian In Front of the Asst referee without him rising the flag. The match officials gave 6 minutes for extra time which I didn't see and the match continued for 7. 25minutes. Remember the CAF president is from Cameroon and most match officials are from Francophone countries. So when we go to Cameroon, we should prepare ourselves that we shall likely play against 12 players ie including the referee.

I hope our technical crew will get the video of the match. We should also note that we have never defeated Cameroon at home. So a lot of odds are against us as we meet them . All that we need to do are total concentration, resilience, tenacity and calmness in the face of the odds mentioned.

Despite playing his best game since he started playing for Nigeria, Victor Moses exhibited a very stupid unprofessional conduct that could have cost us the game. He scored the first goal in the 26 minutes and removed his shirt (when we have 74 minutes to play) thereby attracting to himself a needles yellow card. With a lot time to play, the man could have made a simple mistake within the course of the game if another yellow car is flashed and off he goes. A part from that in our next match, once he gets another card, he won't be available for our our encounter with Zambia. It was a foolish and unprofessional thing to do. Players only do that when it's just about one or two minutes to play and may be the final match which means the trophy has virtually been won. Neymar did that in the final of UEFA cup tie between Barca and Juventus. Barca were leading 2-1 and only half minute to go in the extra time and Neymar scored. He then removed his shirt and was yellow carded even if it was a red card there was no way Juventus could have come back. I hope our coaches will lecture him and other players on this and if need be he should be punished notwithstanding his 5 star performance