France’s Ligue 1 opened play this weekend and Jean Makoun marked the occasion by scoring the only goal in Lille’s victory. Meanwhile in Norway, Patrick Suffo scored in his first match with his new club Odd Grenland. In Asia, Bernard Tchoutang, Roger Batoum and Joseph Lenglolo scored for their clubs.
European Competitions
Champions League
The first leg of the second qualifying round matches were played last week in the Champions League and several Cameroonian players were in action. Armand Deumi started at centerback as his Swiss club FC Thun held favorite Dynamo Kyiv to a 2-2 draw in Ukraine. Joseph Elanga started at left back as Malmo of Sweden scored a 3-2 home win over Maccabi Haifa of Israel. Forward Pierre Boya entered as a sub at the start of the 2nd half and unfortunately missed a great chance to score as his Serbian club Partizan Belgrade won 1-0 at home over Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova. This week the return legs were played and Armand Deumi again played a key defensive role as FC Thun upset
UEFA Cup
In the UEFA Cup, the second leg of the first qualifying round was completed last week and Jean Francois Bell started at centerback as his club FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein lost 1-0 to Dacia Chisinau of Moldova but still advanced 2-1 on aggregate.
Intertoto Cup
The first leg of the Intertoto Cup semifinal round was also played and Timothee Atouba started at left back as Hamburg beat Sigma Olomouc of the Czech Republic 1-0. Benoit Assou Ekotto also staretd at left back as Lens drew 0-0 with Wolfsburg of Germany.
In the second leg of the Intertoto Cup semifinals (of which there are 6 semis leading to 3 separate finals to be played with the finals winners advancing to the UEFA Cup) Timothee Atouba was once again at left back as Hamburg defeated Sigma Olomouc 3-0 to advance 4-0 on aggregate. Benoit Assou Ekotto also played left back as Lens beat Wolfsburg 4-0 to advance.
League Competition
–France
This weekend the new league season began in France’s top 2 divisions- Ligues 1 and 2. In Ligue 1, midfielder Jean Makoun played a key role as Lille defeated Rennes 1-0. In the 38th minute Makoun scored the game’s only goal as he headed in a rebound off of a fiercely struck free kick which Rennes’ goalie punched away. Later in the match Makoun nearly scored again as he noticed Rennes’ goalie off his line but his chip narrowly missed. Overall Makoun had a solid game both offensively and defensively in Lille’s midfield. Playing on the opposite side was Rennes’ right back Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe.
Modeste Mbami started at midfield as PSG scored a big 4-1 win over Metz. Achille Emana had a good match at defensive midfield for Toulouse as they beat Sochaux 1-0. Henri Bedimo Nsame came on as a defensive sub for Toulouse after 84 minutes. Bill Tchato played his first official game for Nice as they drew 1-1 with Troyes. Benoit Assou Ekotto entered as a sub in midfield after 70 minutes for Lens in their 2-0 loss to Nantes.
–Norway
Patrick Suffo signed this week with Odd Grenland in Norway’s First Division. Also signing with a Norwegian club was defender Gustave Bahoken who will play with Aalesund. In his first match with Aalesund, Bahoken played at left back as his club defeated defending league champion Rosenborg 2-1. This weekend Odd Grenland played Aalesund and Patrick Suffo made his debut with Odd Grenland and started at forward. Suffo had an excellent match for his new club creating several goal opportunities and eventually scored the game winning goal in the 72nd minute as Odd Grenland won 2-1. Midfielder Somen a Tchoyi came on as a substitute for Odd Grenland in the 89th minute. Gustave Bahoken played at left back for Aalesund before he was subbed out after 84 minutes.
–Sweden
Joseph Elanga started at left back for Malmo and set up his team’s only goal of the match as they drew 1-1 with IF Elfsborg.
–Russia
In Russia, Stephane Andre Bikey started at defensive midfield and played a solid match before being subbed out after 55 minutes as his club Lokomotiv Moscow beat title rivals CSKA Moscow 3-2. With the victory Lokomotiv increased their league lead in Russia’s Premier League.
Serge Branco played at left back for Shinnik Yaroslavl in their 2-1 win over Dinamo Moscow. Jerry Christian Tchuisse gave his usual solid display at right back as FK Moscow drew 1-1 with Rubin Kazan.
–Ukraine
In Ukraine, Patrick Ebanda staretd at defensive midfield as Arsenal Kyiv recorded their first victory of the new season 1-0 over Dnepro.
–Croatia
In Croatia Mathias Chago came on as a midfield substitute at the start of the 2nd half
for Dinamo Zagreb in their 1-0 loss to Osijek.
–Austria
In Austria Patrice Mbock played at right back for SV Pasching in their 2-2 tie with Sturm Graz.
–Switzerland
In Switzerland, Armand Deumi started at centerback for FC Thun in his club’s 5-1 loss to St. Gallen.
–Malaysia
Former IL winger Bernard Tchoutang is playing in Malaysia with Pahang. Tchoutang signed with his club during the season and ended up finishing 3rd in the league in goals scored with 12. Another Cameroonian, Alain Njoh Njoh is with Melaka Telekom in the Malaysia Super League. In the recently completed Malaysian league season, Pahang finished 2nd and Melaka Telekom 4th in the 8 team league. This week Pahang competed in the ASEAN Cup, a regional tournament amongst clubs from southeast Asia and they advanced to the final behind Tchoutang’s goalscoring.
In group play Tchoutang scored twice as Pahang defeated Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai 4-0. Later he scored four times as his club easily beat East Timor’s Zebra FC 8-0. In the semifinals, Tchoutang scored once as Pahang defeated host team DPMM of Brunei 1-0. In the final Tchoutang scored Pahang’s 2nd goal in the 47th minute as they led 2-0 but they could not hold onto that lead and eventually lost 4-2 to Singapore’s Tampines Rovers.
–Indonesia
In conference 2 (eastern) forward Joseph Lenglolo scored twice as his club, current conference leaders and Indonesian champions Persipura Jayapura beat Persema Malang 4-0 Centerback Herman Abanda started at centerback as PSM Makassar, the Indonesian league runnerup, remained close behind in the eastern conference, level with Persipura on points but trailing on goal difference after a 1-0 win at Persijap Jepara. Also scoring a goal in that match was former Canon player Eric Mebenga.
