His tremendous start of career has been slowed down by injuries that could take a toll on his performance. Njie Clinton came to the limelight during Cameroon’s 4-1 win over Côte d’Ivoire in the qualifiers for the 2015 AFCON during which he scored a spectacular goal that went viral as the public saw in him a worthy heir to Samuel Eto’o Fils who freshly took his international retirement, especially as the native from the South West Region, 21 years, had scored two days earlier in the encounter against the Democratic Republic of Congo barely 44 minutes after making his debut with the Indomitable Lions.
From then much was expected from the young footballer especially after he left Lyon for a more prestigious club in England, Tottenham. With success both at club and country level, the public was surprised Clinton was increasingly sidelined from the national team in the warm up matches leading up to the nation’s cup in Equatorial Guinea. He only came in as a substitute in the last group game against Côte d’Ivoire. Clinton’s misfortune did not end at country level but also continued at the club level as he sustained three major injuries, the last of which kept him off the pitch for three months. With very little time of play to his record, it is difficult to determine whether Clinton Njie has regained the full measure of his talent. The next 2017 AFCON qualifier game against Mauritania and the friendly against France on May 30th, may be an opportunity for Cameroonians to know whether Clinton Njie is back to form or not.
Fred VUBEM TOH
