Category: Sports

By Muluh Alfred

Despite Cameroon’s 3-1 loss to Sénégal in their second group match of the AFCON, the head coach of the indomitable Lions remains steadfast in Cameroon’s qualification.

During a post-match press conference, he stated ‘I am always optimistic. As long as there is a final match, there are no calculations to make. The next match will be a final for us and I know that we will qualify for the second round.’

Assuming full responsibility for the defeat against Sénégal, the head coach added ‘When there is a defeat, we must bear responsibility and therefore we must admit that Senegal was better than us in the match.’

Coach Song noted that the young players in the team would need more experience to produce better results on such occasions. ‘Senegal was stronger than us, their players were in their places on the field, They deserved their victory. For our part, we have young players in the national team, and they are at the beginning of their experience.’

In his view, the players did everything they
could during the game, but small details made the difference. ‘We admit that the competitor was better than us,’ he explained.

Cameroon drew their first game against Guinea and heads into the third game with just one point after their loss to Senegal.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

By Muluh Alfred

Cameroonian NBA player Pascal Siakam made his debut for the Pacers in an unfortunate 118-115 loss to the Blazers after his blockbuster trade.

Despite the outcome, Siakam showcased his skills and proved to be one of his team’s top three players scoring 21 points on 9-of-14 shots, accompanied by six rebounds and three assists.

‘I’m excited, I think we have the opportunity to do something special and I want to be part of it’ Siakam said after his debut.

Pascal Siakam only joined the pacers 2 days ago when The Toronto Raptors agreed to trade the two-time all-star basketball forward to the Indiana Pacers in return for Bruce Brown Jr and three first-round draft picks to Toronto.

Siakam and the Pacers will face the Suns next on Sunday, then he’ll be set to make his home debut against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Cameroon’s senior men’s national team searches for their first win at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) against defending champions, Senegal on Friday.

Holders, Teranga Lions began their title defense with a comfortable 3-0 win over ten-man Gambia.

This came after favorites like Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, and Ghana failed to deliver wins in round one.

The win extended the 2021 champions’ unbeaten run in the competition to eight matches (six wins and two draws).

They next face the Indomitable Lions, a team that knocked them out of the cup in 2017.

Anything less than a victory for Rigobert Song’s side will see them in a dicey situation to qualify for the Round of 16.

Early exit seemed unlikely as the Central African side have progressed from ten of their last 11 AFCON group stages.

Key to this quest is the return of Manchester United goalkeeper, Andre Onana who has joined the team after featuring for the Red Devils over the weekend.

It will be a game Cameroon will have to be up and doing after faili
ng to keep a clean sheet in their last three games.

Lamine Camara scored two goals when Senegal beat Gambia 3-0 and is expected to play a crucial role for his team.

Trying to outdo Camara will be the Lions’ lone goal scorer Frank Magri who also scored for his club Toulouse in a 3-0 victory over Camara’s Metz in the French Ligue 1 this season.

It promises to be a star match of the day as far as the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is concerned on Friday, the same manner as the Cote D’Ivoire vs Nigeria clash was highly anticipated on Thursday.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The indomitable lions of Cameroon bowed to the Terenga lions of Senegal in a disappointing 3-1 defeat In their second group C match of the 2023 African Nations Cup.

With great tactical prowess, the Terenga lions exhibited their superiority, scoring barely 16 minutes into the game when Pape Sar’s precise pass connected with Ismaila who took the shot.

Despite some attempts to regain control, the indomitable lions struggled to keep up with Senegal’s high pressing and eventually conceded the second goal in the 71st minute through Habib Daillo.

Olivier Ntcham then came off the bench to lace one for Jean Castelletto who headed home in the 80th minute, giving the Lions a glimmer of hope.

The lions’ hopes of equalizing were eventually crushed when Sadio Mane found the back of the net with an assist from Pape Gueye, ultimately ending the game 3-1 in Senegal’s favour.

This victory secures Senegal’s qualification to the next stage of the competition while the indomitable lions of Cameroon must now fight harder to
stay in the race for qualification.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The upcoming Group C match between Cameroon and Sénégal marks the fifth time these teams have faced off in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Their previous meeting in the group stage produced a Senegal victory in 1990 while Cameroon emerged victorious in their three knockout matches notebly in thé 1992 quarter-finals, the 2002 final, and the 2017 quarter-finals.

The Defending champions Senegal impressed in their opening game, dispatching Gambia 3-0 thanks to Pape Gueye’s early opener and a brace from Lamine Camara and will be hoping to get a second win.

But Standing in their way are Cameroon, who could only draw their first game against Guinea. Mohamed Bayo put Guinea ahead after 10 minutes, before Frank Magri headed in an equaliser early in the second half.

Cameroon will rely on Georges-Kévin Nkoudou’s ability to create opportunities, as he tallied seven impressive chances in their opening match against Guinea.

On Sénégal’s side, Sadio Mané and Ismaïla Sarr will be key as they recorded an assist each in their
win over Gambia, and have assisted four (two each) of Senegal’s last five goals at the Africa Cup of Nations.

A win for Sénégal would guarantee their advancement to the next stage, but a victory for Cameroon would keep them in the run while a defeat for Cameroon will complicate their chances of moving forward

Senegal and Cameroon’s AFCON Squads

Senegal:

Mory Diaw, Seny Dieng, Édouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Youssouf Sabaly, Ismail Jakobs, Formose Mendy, Abdoulaye N’Diaye, Abdou Diallo, Fodé Ballo-Touré, Abdoulaye Seck, Moussa Niakhaté, Krépin Diatta, Idrissa Gueye, Pathé Ciss, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Nampalys Mendy, Lamine Camara, Pape Gueye, Pape Sarr, Sadio Mané, Habib Diallo, Nicolas Jackson, Boulaye Dia, Ismaïla Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye, Abdallah Sima.

Coach: Aliou Cissé

Cameroon:

André Onana, Fabrice Ondoa, Dévis Epassy, Simon Ngapandouetnbu, Nouhou Tolo, Junior Tchamadeu, Oumar Gonzalez, Darlin Yongwa, Christopher Wooh, Harold Moukoudi, Jean-Charles Castelletto, Enzo Tchato, Malcom Bokélé, Yvan Neyou, Oli
vier Kemen, Frank Anguissa, Ben Elliott, Wilfried Nathan Douala, Olivier Ntcham, Karl Toko-Ekambi, Frank Magri, Vincent Aboubakar, Moumi Ngamaleu, Faris Moumbagna, Leonel Ateba, Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, Clinton N’Jie.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Ivorians have been mounting pressure on authorities for the repatriation of Francine Mayole, a popular Cameroonian Tik-Tok star currently in Côte d’Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Francine is accused of criticising the state of the country’s capital Abidjan.

In a video going viral on social media, Francine makes a laughter of Cocody, a locality in in Abidjan, mocking at the dusty nature.

‘Wasn’t I told there was no dust here in Abidjan? Where are we?’ Francine can be heard questioning.

‘ Is this not Cocody? Is this not dust?’ she mockingly questioned.

This gesture from the Cameroonian has raised controversy among Ivorians who feel they are being insulted, thus requesting her repatriation as was the case with an Algerian who was repatriated for racist attacks on ivorians.

The Algerian YouTube star, Sofia Benlemmane had in a video taken in Côte d’Ivoire, made some racist declaration on the Country and the African continent.

‘Algeria should normally have been located between Spain and Portugal inst
ead of Africa. Because here in Africa they live a life of misery and I have a video recorded at night in a train station that shows it. Less than prehistory is better than here’ Sofia declared

After the declaration, Sofia was reportedly arrested by Ivorian authorities and repatriated.

Worthy to note is the fact that both Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire considered as brother countries and both citizens have been used to jokingly mocking each other on social media handles.

Some of the mockeries have recently been in development, economic, beauty, sports and others.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Ahead of Friday’s group encounter between Cameroon’s senior men’s national team and their Senegalese counterparts, the Lions had their latest training session on Wednesday.

Present to watch the season is FECAFOOT President and former African player of the year, Samuel Eto’o.

The session lasted for 90 minutes at the INPHB South pitch, Yamussoukro 48 hours before the crunchy tie with the defending champions.

After the training, the team was boosted by the presence of members of the team’s premium sponsor.

The sponsor visited the team to pump them to victory against the Teranga Lions on Friday.

On Thursday, coach Rigobert Song and Georges Kevin Nkoudou will attend the pre-match press conference at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium, Yamussoukro by 11:45 am.

The team will hold their final training session on Friday which will last for 60 minutes.

The first 15 minutes of the training are open to the media.

Source: Cameroon News Agency