It was a busy week around the world for Cameroon’s footballers. Over the weekend, the highlights were Samuel Eto’o returning to action and helping Barcelona to victory. Across town, Carlos Kameni and Espanyol won and moved into a Champions League spot in Spain’s La Liga. In France Alexandre Song returned to action and helped Bastia in their bid to stave off relegation. In midweek action, Pierre Wome scored for Brescia in Italy’s Serie A, while Albert Meyong in Portugal and Emile Mbamba in Israel scored in Cup action.
Spain
Carlos Kameni was his usual reliable self in Espanyol’s 3-1 win over Zaragoza which allowed Espanyol to move into 4th place in Spain’s La Liga. The top 4 teams in Spain qualify for next season’s Champions League. Daniel Ngom Kome entered as an offensive sub after 82 minutes of Getafe’s 1-0 win over Levante. Midweek in the first leg semifinal of Spain’s Cup (Copa del Rey) Pierre Webo started at forward and was active in attack during Osasuna’s 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
France
In France’s Ligue 1, teenager Alexandre Song returned to action for Bastia after several weeks of inactivity and with former World Cup winner Christian Karembeu playing centerback, Song started at his preferred position of defensive midfield in the battle between relegation candidates Bastia and Caen. With Song playing a strong game and recuperating many balls in midfield, Bastia emerged victorious 1-0.
Achille Emana started at attacking midfielder for Toulouse in their 2-1 loss to Monaco. Emana was contained in the first half but in the 2nd half was able to create several good scoring opportunities for Toulouse with his passing and ability to run at defenders. Jean Makoun played a solid two way game in midfield for Lille as his club beat Strasbourg 2-1. Salomon Olembe had some difficulty closing down Nantes’ attackers as he played left back for Marseille in his club’s 2-2 draw with Nantes.
Herve Tum was quite active at forward for Metz in their scoreless draw with St. Etienne as he held the ball up well for his teammtes but neither he nor any of Metz’ other attackers had any success piercing St. Etienne’s defense. Benoit Assou Ekotto started at left back for Lens in their 3-2 win over Sochaux. Rennes game against bottom club Istres had Cameroonians starting at right back for both squads. Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe for Rennes and Patrick Leugueun making a rare start for Istres. After 17 minutes Leugueun was shown a yellow card for an off the ball pushing incident with a Rennes player. 12 minutes later he received his second yellow and his walking papers for a rough challenge on a Rennes attacker. Perrier Doumbe, however, also later saw red as he was sent off in the 67th minute as he hooked an Istres’ attacker on a long punt from Istres’ goalie and brought the attacker down. As the last man back on defense, Perrier Doumbe was shown an automatic red. Rennes were leading at the time 1-0 but scored a late goal for a 2-0 victory which practically assured Istres’ relegation next season to Ligue 2.
In France’s 2nd Division, Sedan moved into 4th place and within 7 points of 3rd place Troyes and the last promotion position to Ligue 1 with 4 matches to play. Marcus Mokake entered as an offensive sub in the 69th minute of Sedan’s 1-0 win over Montpellier. Thierry Gathuessi started at centerback for Montpellier in the loss. Gilbert Bayiha started at goalkeeper for Grenoble as they drew 2-2 with Troyes. Eugene Ekobo started in midfield for Creteil as they tied 2-2 with Niort.
Midweek there was action in the quarterfinals of France’s Cup and Sedan defeated Grenoble 2-1 after extra time. Pierre Njanka started at centerback and played 61 minutes for Sedan while Marcus Mokake entered as an offensive sub for the eventual winners after 81 minutes. Gilbert Bayiha was in goal for Grenoble.
Portugal
Rudolph Douala started at right wing for Sporting Lisbon in their scoreless draw with Academica Coimbra. Douala complained of some pain in his leg, however, and was subbed off after 60 minutes. Douala is expected to
Midweek, Vitoria Setubal qualified for the Portuguese Cup Final by defeating Boavista 2-1 after extra time. Albert Meyong started for Vitoria Setubal and opened scoring in the game by netting a goal in the 38th minute. In the 55th, Meyong had the chance to score again but he hit a penalty kick over the bar. But Meyong’s speed and mobility caused problems for Boavista’s defense throughout the Cup semifinal.
Belgium
In Belgium, Matthieu Assou Ekotto started at defensive midfield for 3rd place Standard Liege in their match against 2nd place Anderlecht. In the 89th minute, an Assou Ekotto pass set up Standard’s 2nd goal for a 2-2 tie. One minute later, however, Anderlecht scored the game winner. Justice Wamfor started at defensive midfield for Racing Genk as they defeated La Gantoise 1-0. Unfortunately Wamfor picked up a yellow card and will be suspended for Genk’s next match. Jeremie Njock started at forward for Mons as they beat Westerlo 3-2. Njock had a goal called back for offside and later in the match had a powerful header well saved by Westerlo’s goalkeeper. Samuel Ipoua started at forward and played 83 minutes for St. Trond in their 2-1 win over La Louviere. Patrice Noukeu started in midfield for Mouscron as they were beaten 2-0 by Charleroi. Noukeu had a shot saved in the 27th minute and was subbed out after 63 minutes as Mouscron brought on an additional attacker.
England
In midweek play, Lauren Etame Mayer again played at right back and gave a good display in Arsenal’s scoreless tie with league leaders Chelsea. With the draw, Arsenal likely lost all realistic chance they had of retaining their league title which now inevitably looks headed to Chelsea. Timothee Atouba came on as a second half sub at left back for Tottenham in their 1-1 draw with West Bromwich but had little effect on the game.
Scotland
In Scotland’s Premier League, Gustave Bahoken started at left back for Livingston in his club’s 1-1 draw with Dundee United.
Italy
Pierre Wome had a very active week. Over the weekend Wome started at left wing back for Brescia in their 2-0 victory over Reggina. Wome had a very effective match both offensively and defensively for Brescia and his corner kick was headed in by a teammate for Brescia’s opening goal. Midweek Wome again played left wing back for Brescia in their high scoring 3-3 draw with upper table Palermo. Wome scored with a powerful left footed shot in the 17th minute, his 2nd goal in the past 3 matches.
Greece
Pierre Ebede started in goal for Chalkidona but he and his teammates had a game they would like to forget losing 6-3 to league leader Panathinaikos. Nana Falemi started at right back for Ergotelis but his club moved further into the relegation zone as they lost 1-0 to Apollon. Joel Epalle started at right side midfield for Iraklis in their 1-0 loss to Skoda Xanthi but was unable to score in his 3rd consecutive match. Jean Denis Ouanga came on as a sub for Kallithea in the 85th minute of their 1-1 draw with Panionios.
Turkey
Rigobert Song started at centerback and gave a commanding performance as Galatasaray defeated Diyarbakirspor 1-0. Alioum Saidou started at midfield for Malatyaspor in his club’s 2-2 draw with Sebatspor. Ankaragucu lost 3-1 to Trabzonspor but starting at left back for Ankaragucu was Herve Zengue. Coming on as a sub at forward for the losing club in the 54th minute was Jean Emmanuel Effa Owona.
Midweek was action in the Turkish Cup semifinals. Rigobert Song started at centerback and played 120 minutes as Galatasaray defeated Trabzonspor 4-2 on penalty kicks after they drew 1-1. Souleymanou Hamidou also played 120 minutes in the other semifinal as his club Denizlispor lost 4-3 on penalties to Fenerbahce after the two clubs also drew 1-1. Hamidou unfortunately was unable to stop any of Fenerbahce’s penalty kicks.
Germany
In Germany’s Bundesliga both Lucien Mettomo and Bill Tchato started in Kaiserslautern’s 4-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund. Neither Mettomo at centerback nor Tchato at left back had a good match in Kaiserslautern’s loss. In Bundesliga 2, Francis Kioyo also struggled as he started at forward for Rot Weiss Essen in his club’s 2-0 loss to Alemania Aachen. Daniel Wansi entered as a sub in the 90th minute for Dynamo Dresden in their 3-1 win over LR Ahlen.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, Armand Deumi again played a good match in FC Thun’s big 4-0 win over Schaffhausen. Samuel Ojong made an appearance after a long injury layoff coming on as a sub at forward for Thun in the 77th minute. Jean Pierre Tchetchoua at centerback and Augustine Simo at midfield played for Aarau in their 1-1 tie with Grasshoppers Zurich.
Midweek, both Tchetchoua and Simo struggled as Aarau were beaten 5-0 by league leaders Basel.
In the quarterfinals of Israel’s Cup, Emile Mbamba scored after 2 minutes as Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Hapoel Haifa 4-0. This week in Russia, Jerry Christian Tchuisse started at right back as FK Moscow beat Dinamo Moscow 2-0. Stephane Bikey at centerback and Serge Branco at midfield started for Shinnik Yaroslavl in it’s scoreless tie with newly promoted Tom Tomsk. In Ukraine, Patrick Ebanda started at defensive midfield as Arsenal Kyiv held Shaktor Donetsk to a 1-1 draw. Ebanda was subbed out after 58 minutes of the match as he had already picked up a yellow card.
In Serbia & Montengro it was time for the Belgrade derby between Partizan and Red Star. Pierre Boya came on as a 2nd half sub at forward for Partizan in the match which ended 1-1. In the Czech Republic, Patrice Abanda entered as a defensive sub in the 87th minute of Teplice’s 5-2 win over Ceske Budejovice. In Sweden Joseph Elanga started and played a solid match at left back in Malmo’s 3-0 victory over Gefle. Also playing well was midfielder Somen A Tchoyi who started and played 75 minutes in Odd Grenland’s 2-1 win over Bodo Glimt in Norway. Patrice Kwedi started in midfield for Denmark’s AGF Aarhus who beat FC Midtjylland 1-0. In Latvia, Skonto Riga defeated Olimps 5-1. Aaron Nguimbat started and played 56 minutes at centerback for Skonto Riga. Claude Parfait Ngon entered as a sub at forward in the 60th minute for Skonto. Jean Paul Ndjoumeck started at centerback for FK Venta in his club’s 2-0 win over FK Riga.
In the Americas, Alain Nkong started at forward and had an active match before being subbed out after 62 minutes in Colorado’s 2-0 win over Columbus in the United States. Forward Antoine Helha and centerback Mustafa both started for Plaza Colonia in their 2-0 loss to defending champion Danubio in Uruguay. Helha was causing Danubio’s defense some danger with his speed and mobility but neither he nor his teammates had success in scoring in the match. Plaza Colonia remains winless this season.
