Cameroon at training days 1 and 2 part 2

All pictures courtesy of getty images

pics of players in training Days 1 and 2

All pictures courtesy of camfoot and Getty Images

National Team Profile

• Country-Cameroon
• Nickname-The Indomitable Lions
• Past Performance at World Cup-1982-Group Phase 1990-Quarter finals 1994-Group Phase 1998-Group Phase 2002-Group Phase
• Honours-4 times African Nations cup champions (1984, 1988,2000,2002)
• Coach-Paul Le Guen
• Captain-Samuel Eto'o
• Current betting odds of winning the World Cup-80/1
• Current squad

Goalkeepers:

Roland N'Dy Assembe (Valenciennes)

Idriss Carlos Kameni (Espanyol),

Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor),

Patrick Tignyemb (Bloemfontein Celtic)

Defenders:

Patrick Abouna (Astres Douala),

Benoit Assou Ekotto (Tottenham Hotspur),

Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham Hotspur),

Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes),

Aurelien Chedjou (Lille),

Geremi (Ankaragucu),

Boukar Makadji (Al Nahdha),

Stephane Mbia (Marseille, France)

Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco),

Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor)

Midfielders:

Achille Emana (Real Betis),

Enoh Eyong (Ajax Amsterdam),

Jean Makoun (Olympique Lyon),

Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern),

Joel Matip (Schalke 04),

Patrick Mevoungou (Canon Yaounde),

Marcel Ndjeng (Augsburg),

Landry Nguemo (Celtic),

Alexandre Song (Arsenal)

Forwards:

Vincent Aboubakar (Coton Sport),

Eric Choupo-Mating (Nuremburg), ,

Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan),

Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg),

Dorge Kouemaha (Club Bruges),

Achille Webo (Real Mallorca),

Jacques Zoua (Basle)

No African country has participated at the world cup as often as Cameroon. in spite of reaching the quarter finals in 1990 Cameroon has yet to fully build on their success. results in subsequent tournaments post 1990 have been disappointing even though many of the problems have stemmed from poor organization especially administratively. That said Cameroon will be looking to have a good World Cup. The Cameroonian football federation, Fecafoot seem to be getting its house in order and problems in the past such as match bonuses are not so much of an issue today. that said it seems as if the world cup has come perhaps at a time when the team is going through a transition phase. The older guard such as Geremi and Rigobert Song no longer seem to have the pace to compete with many players at the highest level even though they boast of well over 200 appearances between them. In addition the new young generation lack experience with many of the players being recently added to the squad.All of this puts more pressure on the spine of the team composing Carlos Kameni, Nicolas Nkoulou (19 years but one of the most experienced centre backs in the team), Alex Song and Captain Samuel Eto'o. Generally there is guarded optimism and if the team manages to gel and works as a coherent unit there is every chance the team can at least past the group phase.

Tactical Formation

Under Paul Le Guen Cameroon have tended to play 4-3-3. what is still to be decided is the starting eleven. During the African Nations cup in Angola certain players like Benoit Assou Ekotto were not available so changes before the opening match against Japan are inevitable. This is especially because the defence showed serious lapses in Angola which urgently need to be rectified. icholas Nkoulou is usually one of the centre backs. who will still parter him is still be seen. Stephane Mbia had a great season with Marseille at that position though he is not comfortable there. he has also been tried at right back too. Sebastien Bassong is also an option as well as Veteran Rigobert Song. The midfield relies on Alex Song as the midfield. He, as well as being the principal holding midfielder also acts as a deep lying play-maker. Most of Cameroons moves start from him. In midfield he usually plays with two other central midfielders, usually either Eyong Enoh, Jean Makoun or Georges Mandjeck. Schalke's Joel Matip is another new option. this gives the midfield a lot of compactness and stability though this comes at the price of creativity. the attacking trio is usually spearheaded by Inter Milan Star Samuel Eto'o. He is the superstar of the team, captain, talisman and is a world class talent. the main problem is he does not have enough support in attack. As a result of this Eto'o often plays a deeper role for Cameroon than he would usually in Europe. in attack he usually plays with Achille Emana and a variety of other players like Achille Webo or Mohamadou Idrissou. Idrissou would usually play as the point man by virtue of his height and his physical presence.

World Cup part 1

Finally after four years of waiting the greatest tournament is finally upon us...the World Cup in South Africa. As a Cameroonian naturally i will be rooting for Cameroon to go all the way though realistically i thing Brazil or Argentina (if they click) will end up winning it. the European sides will be strong and the weather will play in their favor but its hard for European sides to win outside their continent. watching games for me won't be easy especially waking up early but it all will be worth it. i hope i will be able to find a bar open here at 7 in the morning. if not...my home will be my stadium.

in order to get into the spirit of the tournament here are a couple of songs to kick things off..the first one is "Waka Waka 'Esto es Africa" by Shakira. the song is in fact plagiarized from a Cameroonian song "Zangalewa" by the Zangalewa especially from 7:33. Check out both songs below.

The second song is "O Africa" by Akon featuring Keri Hilson with appearances from Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi, Kaka, Michael Ballack (sorry mate) and Frank Lampard.