Third opponent of Brazil in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar, the Cameroon team was not in the way of Brazilians in 2018 like Serbia and Switzerland, but it is not a strange rival for the team in World Cups either.
The match, which will take place on Friday, December 2, at Lusail Stadium, will be the third between them in the history of the Cups.
The first duel took place in 1994, when Carlos Alberto Parreira’s team won 3-0, in the group stage of the United States edition. Romário, Márcio Santos and Bebeto scored the goals for Brazil, which included the expulsion of defender Rigobert Song, who was only 17 years old at the time, to make things easier.
Song, by the way, is the connecting thread between that match and the meeting in Qatar eight months from now. Captain of the national team in the past and current coach of Cameroon, the former defender replaced the country in the World Cup after the Africans failed to qualify for Russia four years ago.
In 2014, in the second confrontation in World Cup games, the Brazilian team thrashed the Cameroonians 4-1, at the Mané Garrincha stadium, in BrasÃlia. Neymar opened the scoring and Joel Matip even tied the game, but another goal from shirt 10, in addition to those of Fred and Fernandinho, defined the victory of Felipão’s men.
Star of the team at the time, Samuel Eto’o did not face Brazil because he had been injured after the first round of the World Cup, against Mexico. With a knee problem, he ended up missing the rest of the competition. Today, Eto’o, twice champion of the African Cup of Nations and participant in four World Cups with his country (1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014), is the president of the national football federation.
This year, Cameroon is looking for a better campaign than those registered in 2014 and 1994, when it lost its three commitments and did not make it through the group stage.
In the United States, after the 6-1 thrashing against Russia (with 5 goals by Oleg Salenko, a record to date in a single game in the tournament), the home of the then first-choice goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell, in Douala, was set on fire by angry fans.
Bell had faced Sweden and Brazil, but was sacked for the third match with the Russians. He was replaced by Jaques Songo’o, who was cast six times.
The defeat suffered intensified the political tensions that the country was experiencing at the time. President Paul Biya had to leave the capital Yaoundé and take refuge in his hometown of Mvomeka. Biya, who took power in 1982, remains at the head of the country at the age of 89 and, after having amended the constitution, the president can run for reelection whenever he wants.
The memory of a good performance by Cameroon in World Cups goes back to 1990, in Italy. On the occasion, the Africans surprised in their debut by beating Argentina, then world champion. With a triumph against Romania, they not only secured the classification, but also led the group that still had the Soviet Union.
In the round of 16, Cameroon beat Colombia 2-1 (two goals from Roger Milla, the country’s greatest football idol). In the quarterfinals, they faced England and were defeated 3-2.
It was the first time that an African team reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup, a feat repeated by Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010.
Qualification for Qatar, guaranteed last March, came after a thrilling victory over Algeria in the qualifiers. In the first clash between the teams, the Algerians won away from home, in Douala, by 1-0, with a goal from Slimani.
In the return game, played in Blida, Algeria, the Cameroonians opened the scoring with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, runner-up in the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain in 2020, currently at Bayern Munich.
The victory in normal time took the match into extra time, and Ahmed Touba scored for the Algerians with two minutes left. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, however, a goal by Lyon player Karl Toko-Ekambi gave Cameroon the victory and, helped by the away goal, a spot in the next World Cup.
“The most interesting thing was not the fact that we won, but the spirit that I passed on to my players, who went to the limit and got the result in the end”, said coach Rigobert Song, who says he is not afraid of a group with Brazil and two more European opponents.
“It’s great to play against players who have a reputation. It’s always motivating.”
In addition to Choupo-Moting and Ekambi, another of Cameroon’s highlights is the goalkeeper André Onana, from Ajax, who faced consecutive dramas until qualifying for the World Cup.
In October 2020, the archer was caught in the anti-doping test, which found the presence of furosemide (a diuretic component) in his body. The suspension, initially of one year, was reduced to nine months.
Onana returned to Ajax in October last year and was able to participate in the final stages of the African qualifiers for the World Cup. Days before the clashes with Algeria, however, he was in a car accident on a road in his country, but was not injured.
Starting in both matches, he was decisive for the classification of Cameroonians to Qatar.
In local football, the main team is Coton Sport, from the city of Garoua, the biggest champion of the national league with 16 titles, followed by Canon Yaoundé, with five cups.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has already recorded just over 120,000 cases in the country and 1,927 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University, Cameroon is now facing an outbreak of cholera, which has put pressure on the country’s health system, especially in cities. from Limbe, Buea and Tiko.
It is the second outbreak of the disease in two months. In February, another cholera outbreak affected 1,300 citizens and killed about 40 people, according to the website Cameroon Online.
CAMEROON
Continent: Africa
Capital: Yaoundé
Area: 475,440 km²
Population: 27.7 million
Main achievements in football: five-time African Cup of Nations champions (1984, 1988,
2000, 2002 and 2017) and Olympic champions in 2000
Top scorer: Samuel Eto’o (56 goals)
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