[FM21] The Indomitable Lions

[Herr Müller]

For some reason, I am the new manager of the Cameroon national side in August 2020. There are worse first jobs than this, expectations are quite high though. The heritage of Roger Milla and Samuel Eto'o is there to be kept alive - the former World Cup regulars have not been on the biggest stage of them all since 2014, I want to take them to the World Cup in Qatar, no matter how much I hate the idea of playing there in November.

But before we're talking about the World Cup my task is qualifying for the African Cup of Nations! Qualifiers are up and running, the team has won the first two games and sit in 2nd behind DR Congo who have a better goal difference by 2 goals. It is my aim to take the Indomitable Lions to the AFCON in Algeria in December next year and take them from there. We will start in September with a friendly against South Africa before playing Zimbabwe in another friendly in October, both of them at home. The next set of qualifiers will be at home against DR Congo before ending the year with an away game at Tanzania.

I can't wait to hear the lions roar.

 

[Herr Müller]

September 5, 2020

International Friendly

Cameroon v South Africa

So there it is, my managerial debut at the Stade de football d'Olembe, what a beautiful name. It may be a meaningless friendly, but I want to start with a win of course. My first act was to name Vincent Aboubakar captain of our side with Jean-Charles Castelletto being his deputy. The hosts of the 2010 World Cup may not be among the top African sides, It's a dominant performance of the home side who score after 6 minutes with a Lamkel Ze goal, his first for the Indomitable Lions. South Africa seem powerless in front of 27,000 spectators, and it's 2-0 straight after half time after a fine header from Yvan Neyou who scores in his first game for Cameroon as well. Many changes are made in the second half and the game falls flat, it's a solid win for Cameroon in my first game in charge. Long may it continue.

Final Score

Cameroon 2 (Lamkel Ze '6, Neyou 51') - South Africa 0

Edited January 7, 2022 by Herr Müller

[Herr Müller]

After the South Africa game and before heading back to God's Own Country, the FA decided that it would be a great idea to add a second friendly in October, this time away from home against Uganda. No problem guys, you can't break us! This will make it three friendlies before the next two AFCON qualifiers in November, hopefully a good preparation for the more serious games. My assistant manager, Francois Omam-Biyik who scored the famous goal in the 1-0 opening match win against defending World champions Argentina at Italia '90 has put down the squad for me to give me a clue about who to pick in November, my knowledge of Cameroon players hasn't been perfeclty well. I raise my eyebrows when I saw we have a player in the squad without a club and without a game in over 18 months, but hey, who am I to doubt this Cameroon legend? But once the AFCON games come calling, I will be in charge and I will take the consequences. Positives only, hopefully.

 

October 7, 2020

International Friendly

Uganda v Cameroon

9 changes made from the starting line-up against South Africa with only Nkoulou and Kunde staying in the side. We attack straight from the off but Uganda have other plans and have some really good chances to score in the first half, but our keeper Ndy Assembe can stop them. We take the lead just before half-time with a goal from Evina, another goal in another debut game. Bassogog had to come off injured which is quite a blow for us, he'll be out for about 3 weeks and ready to return for our DR Congo game. Choupo-Moting increases the lead in the 2nd half, Uganda concede another one, Neyou adds a second goal to his tally, which is the final score as well. A solid win despite a sloppy first half.

Final Score

Uganda 0 - Cameroon 3 (Evina '43, Choupo-Moting '63, Neyou '79)

 

October 10, 2020

International Friendly

Cameroon v Zimbabwe

We're back in Olembe and it's time to play our strongest team to give the crowd something to cheer and to send a message to DR Congo for our encounter next month. I hope DR Congo weren't watching because it wasn't the best game in the country's history, far from it. Zimbabwe were parking the bus and we were absolutely incapable of finding a way to get past their defence. Aboubakar quickly took the lead for us right after the start of the second half and Zambo Anguissa adding another with a scorcher from distance. Zimbabwe were probably happy leaving Olembe with just a 2-0 loss, but I felt myself a bit let down, we need to improve and we need to do it quickly.

Final Score

Cameroon 2 (Aboubakar '47, Zambo Anguissa '69) - Zimbabwe 0

 

Still, three wins out of three games with no goals conceded is something to build on. I hope we're ready for the important game against DR Congo next month in Olembe, it would be all worthless if we didn't win this particular game...

Edited January 8, 2022 by Herr Müller

[Herr Müller]

Three weeks later, it's time for my personal first squad nomination for the important AFCON qualifiers. Francois Omam-Biyik gives me a virtual thumbs up after presenting him the squad via e-mail. The next day, the FA announces the following squad:

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders & Strikers

They can be heroes, even if it's just for one day, November 13.

[Herr Müller]

It's Friday 13th, what a funny story! I face my biggest challenge so far in a must-win AFCON qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo and this game will be played in the Stade de Japoma, a modern stadium for 50,000 people opened only last year. Unfortunately this won't be a sell-out in the city of Douala, and not even close. Only 23,000 tickets have been sold for the DR Congo game, a lot of work needs to be done I suppose to win this lot over.

November 13, 2020

African Cup of Nations Qualifier, Group I

Cameroon v DR Congo

Those who have found their way into Stade de Japoma gave it their best and supported us all the way. it was always going to be a tight game against a very good side containing players like Silas, Arthur Masuaku and Chancel Mbemba. Joyful celebrations could be seen after 10 minutes, unfortunately Maxim Choupo-Moting strayed into an offside position and his header, our lead, was disallowed. Only nine minutes later we were more successful as our right-back Allan Nyom scored his first goal for Cameroon after a nice finish from outside - back of the net! DR Congo only had a single opportunity, just before half time but a fine save from Ondoa ensured that we would keep our lead. Our skipper and leader Vincent Aboubakar had another goal ruled out, decision delayed. A third goal was ruled out, this time for the visitors with only 5 minutes left, the legend Yannick Bolasie scored from an offside position. We were relying on counter-attack in the last few minutes but it was just enough to win the game, huge relief in the Cameroon camp, still no goals conceded, get in!

Final Score

Cameroon 1 (Nyom '19) - DR Congo 0

Massive win for us, I may be a bit complacent now but we should really win our game at Tanzania, who got their first points in the groupe stage after a 3-2 home win against Sierra Leone.

November 17, 2020

African Cup of Nations Qualifier, Group I

Tanzania v Cameroon

I made a bold move in resting players like Aboubakar for this game, giving young guns like Franck Evina who had absolutely no fear of playing in front of 43,000 fans in the Tanzania National Stadium. It was game over after 15 minutes actually with Evina scoring two quick goals and Bassogog adding a third in quick succession. We switched to a more balanced approach to keep it easy on them, making some early changes bringing more youngsters in. It was enough to finish the year 2020 with another win and another clean sheet, Cameroon hasn't conceded a single goal since the start of the qualifiers in November 2019, those six games are a new team record. Who knows what we can achieve on the African continent if we can keep things going like this?

Final Score

Tanzania 0 - Cameroon 3 (Evina 7' 9', Bassogog 13')

That leaves the table of group I like this after the first four rounds with DR Congo winning the other game 3-1 away to Sierra Leone:

When I saw the table on the internet after returning home to West Yorkshire for the festive season I panicked: Why does the table look like this? Have we got banned and nobody told me? Is it a mistake? I called my assistant Francois Omam-Biyik and told him about the issue, it was a mix between furious, anxious and nervous - Francois laughed out as loud as he could before telling me that we are the hosts of the upcoming AFCON and didn't need to qualify, it was just a way to keep us busy. I didn't read properly when I started my job here, thinking Algeria would host the AFCON but they are the current holders. So all the build-up and nerves were all unnecessary. Never have I felt so embarassed...

 

[Herr Müller]

So there is a long break between November and the final two games against Sierra Leone and DR Congo. I'm enjoying myself and watch a lot of football all around the continent, I'm learning the French language to communicate properly in Cameroon and it obviously helps me raising my stock in the football community. OGC Nice and Brighton invite me for a job interview with both struggling in Ligue 1 and the Premier League respectively. It's a nice early recognition of the start of my managerial career, but I thankfully reject their efforts. There is too much to be done in West Africa yet.

March 24, 2021

African Cup of Nations Qualifier, Group I

Cameroon v Sierra Leone

So it's actually meaningless what we do in the next two games, time to rotate the squad before getting serious again at DR Congo. We host Sierra Leone in the Stade de la Revolution in front of 16,000 supporters and we're all out attack. Aboubakar is on a roll and he opens the scoring early before adding another one with a penalty. Many chances but no more goals before half-time. Zambo Anguissa adds a third one with a wonderful goal shortly after the start of the second half, all going well. The awful part starts now: Sierra Leone score with both their first shots on target, Kargbo and Bakayoko make it 3-2 with 10 minutes to go, I'm quite angry. Toko Ekambi saves the day though with a free-kick, we got away with some horrible defending in the second half.

Final Score

Cameroon 4 (Aboubakar '14 '22 (pen), Zambo Anguissa '51, Toko Ekambi '90+2) - Sierra Leone 2 (Kargbo '65, Bakayoko '82)

Our final game will be at DR Congo who are now officially qualified for the AFCON after a 1-0 win away at Tanzania.

March 27, 2021

African Cup of Nations Qualifier, Group I

DR Congo v Cameroon

Six changes are made for the wrap-up in Kinshasa, the only aim is to keep our winning run alive. The start didn't go as planned, DR Congo take the lead after 14 minutes thanks to a great finish by Wissa. Our balanced approach goes out of the window, we want to put pressure on DR Congo and it pays off, Choupo-Moting equalises after 35 minutes. The second half performance was actually one of the best so far, we controlled the match and scored twice thanks to goals from Lamkel Ze and Nkoulou. DR Congo tried their best to mount a comeback but no real danger came up after that. We finish with 18 points, 6 wins after 6 games and despite some hiccups in my first seven months, we send a message to the rest of the continent: We are ready.

Final Score

DR Congo 1 (Wissa '14) - Cameroon 3 (Choupo-Moting '34, Lamkel Ze '49, Nkoulou '53)

Sierra Leone can win at least one game, they end their campaign with a 3-2 win against Tanzania.

Tunisia won't be at AFCON in January, they finish 3rd in their group behind Angola (14 pts) and Cape Verde (10 pts, +3 GD).

Algeria, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Guinea all finish with the maximum of 18 points, so this is getting interesting come January 2022.

But before we can welcome 23 other African teams, we will need to deal with the African Qualifiers for the World Cup, starting in June. When I was told about the draw, I was shocked - only one team per group will advance to the 3rd Round:

African World Cup Qualifiers 2nd Round Group 4 Draw:

It will be us or Ivory Coast in the third stage of the qualification process. I want to make sure it won't be them.