A few months ago when the hawks of Togo were inflicting a painful one nil defeat on the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, football pundits were almost predicting a second consecutive world cup without Cameroon. However it is ironical today that the lions might picked their qualification ticket for South Africa 2010 in the hands of these same Hawks who were determined to fly away with the ticket. This would only be possible if the Lions beat Togo in Yaoundé on Saturday hoping Gabon slips at home to Morocco.
When Emmanuel Adebayor slotted home the match winner of the away leg encounter between Togo and Cameroon in Accra, it was a bitter pill to swallow, not only for the players but the supporters and nation as a whole. This heavy lump that was being rammed down the throat of Cameroonians sent shocking waves as Cameroon might missed out the world cup for a second consecutive time. This warning signal sent all the stakeholders back to the drawing board. Thus the centre could no longer hold and things started falling apart.
The first of Scape goats was the headcoach, Otto Pfister who smuggled himself out of the Nation before even the hammer could fall on him. Then followed the Sports minister, Augustin Edjoa, who was axed by a presidential decree. At the level of the team itself, Paul Le Guen was brought in to rescue the sinking ship by replacing the so called college of home based coaches…Then some players began paying the price. First of all, Rigobert Song spectacularly lost his skipper’s arm band in favour of Samuel Eto’o and eventually his first team place threatened by youngsters like Nkoulou and Bassong. It equally marked the beginning to an end of a certain 984 code. Players like Andre Bikey were dropped to the bench while others like Atouba were omitted completely from the squad.
A one nil defeat that turned things sour has ironically placed the Lions back on track today as they woke up from slumber to record back to back victories over Gabon. This same Togo that caused panic and terror within the Lion’s den might be the same team to usher Samuel Eto’o and Co to South Africa in case of a defeat in Yaounde and the Lions hoping Gabon slips at home to Morocco.
Fully aware of the stakes of this encounter, headcoach Paul Le Guen is leaving no stone unturned as he has been fast in replacing the injured Aurelien Chedjou by Georges Mandjeck of Kaiserslautern.
As the Lions converge on Yaounde this Monday to begin training, they should have in mind that this same Togolese team that sent them off track could still deny them qualification, especially as they have a new coach who is determined to win his first game. Hence victory is imperative for the lions and there would be no room for excuses especially with the ever demanding Cameroonian supporters
