A bitter pill to swallow for Cameroon after little-known Namibia proofed stubborn again and stopped 5-time African champions, Cameroon from grabbing an early ticket for the 2023 biggest African football jamboree, the Africa Cup of Nations, this time to be hosted by Cote D’Ivoire. The Brave Warriors were brave once more and defeated Cameroon 2-1 on a day-4 return leg qualifier game at the Orlando Stadium in Dobsonville, Soweto in South Africa.
\Namibian Captain, Peter Shalulile sent shock waves and break the myth just as he did during the away leg in Yaounde by opening scores, this time at the 55th minute pushing Cameroon to the edge, efforts to equalize were dampened when Nambia again doubled the scores at the 79th minute through a spotless free kick from Absalom Limbondi.
A conciliation goal from Cameroon’s team captain, Vincent Aboubakar came at full time and did not change the situation that was already bad for the visiting Cameroonian team. Rigobert Song Bahanag’s squad failed again just as they disappointed the home crowd in Yaounde at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on Friday, March 24, 2023.
One would have thought, the heavyweights from Central Africa will reverse the all one draw at home this time but they instead fell below expectations and welcomed a 2-1 from Namibia, a country struggling to make her 4th appearance at the AFCON while Cameroon is on her way for a 21st participation with 5 trophies, the last won in 2017 in Gabon.
As it stands, Benjamin Collins of Namibia and his squad are enjoying leadership in Group C with five points in three outings. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were dethroned to the second position after felling off the hands of Namibia, they count four points in three clashes, last in the group is Burundi with just a point.
What must have caused Cameroon’s defeat
The internet has been blowing up from Cameroonian football lovers and sports analysts who think, Namibia with little history in African football and no traces at the World Cup at all should not have humiliated a footballing nation like Cameroon that has not only stood out in Africa but leaves very long standing memories at the World Cup most especially the 1990 expedition where the squad defeated Maradona’s Argentina.
Many think, the football tactician at the helm of the team does not have a permanent playing strategy or pattern of play. During the away leg the Coach employed the 4-3-3 strategy that caused a lot of problems to the team and left them helpless, struggling to level the scores. During the away leg, Coach Rigobert Song instituted a 4-2-4 playing pattern, one many thing is an old formation and only effective if they players are efficient with long balls, while the strikers are good with air balls.
The starting eleven many say is inconsistent. Four changes were marked during the return match, Nicolas Nkoulou was on the starting line meanwhile and PWD’s full back, Thomas Eta Bawak replaced Christopher Wooh who was ferried out of the pitch after a clash for the ball during the day-3 action in Yaounde.
Newcomer and goal scorer for team Cameroon at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Olivier Kemen was left on the bench while Pierre Kunde Malong was on the first eleven this time. Vincent Aboubakar sets in South Africa after being left out in Cameroon for a one match ban while Olivier Ntcham stayed on the substitutes bench.
Players like Ignatius Ganago and Bryan Mbeumo who have good playing time with Nantes in France and Brentford in England respectively have proven beyond expectation in the lion’s journey for a qualification ticket. Sports lovers think they have been seemingly absent on the pitch
Emmanuel Mahop who made his way into the pitch during the last 6 minutes was for sure a wrong substitution others say. In any case, Cameroon still have a return match with Burundi to be able to seal the deal for the 2023 AFCON but then, a good number of Cameroonians are still to invest trust on the shot keeper, Devis Epassy whom they say did not portray much of maturity and professionalism in the match.
If not for this, what explains why will Cameroon with a wealth of talents in their squad could count only two shots on target out of 14 shots while Namibia ranked 113 in the world of football had record breaking stats of 7 shots on target out of 10 shots, despite Cameroon leading the ball possession by 56 per cent.
