Eto’o Scores As Barcelona Wins the Spanish Super Cup, Goals for Atouba and Kioyo In German Cup

Samuel Eto’o scored as Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup over the weekend. In the opening round of the German Cup both Timothee Atouba and Francis Kioyo scored while in the United States Alain Nkong netted another goal. The league season began in Portugal and Yohanna Buba scored in Portugal’s version of a 2nd Division. Midweek both Marcus Mokake and Patrick Leugueun scored in the same game in France’s Ligue 2. In Malaysia Christian Beckamengo also found the back of the net as did Didier Njewel in China.

Spain

Samuel Eto’o started at forward for Barcelona in the 2nd leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Betis Sevilla. Barcelona took a 3 goal advantage from leg 1 in Sevilla into the return leg at their Nou Camp Stadium and in the first half Samuel Eto’o got the Catalan club off to a great satrt when his typcial pressing of the ball led him to steal the ball off of Betis’ defender Melli’s foot and race in from near the half way line alone on goal where he promptly slid the ball past Betis’ advancing goalie. Although Betis eventually won the 2nd leg 2-1 Barcelona took home the first trophy of the Spanish season 4-2 on aggregate with Eto’o netting 2 of those goals.

England

In England most of the attention was on the London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal. Lauren once again started at right back for the Gunners and gave a competent, as usual, display in defense but Chelsea emerged victorious 1-0 behind a fluke goal from Didier Drogba. Eric Djemba Djemba came off the bench into midfield in the 20th minute as his club Aston Villa played his old team Manchester United. Djemba Djemba worked hard in midfield but it was not enough as Aston Villa lost 1-0. Forward Vincent Pericard came off the bench as a sub in the 81st minute of Portsmouth’s 2-1 loss to West Brom. In England’s version of a 2nd division, Mathias Doumbe started at centerback as his club Plymouth lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace.

France

In France’s Ligue 1, PSG maintained their league lead following a 1-1 draw at Troyes. Modeste Mbami started at defensive midfield for PSG. Champions Lyon kept pace with PSG by scoring late to beat Nancy 1-0. Coming on as a midfield substitute in the 78th minute for his Ligue 1 debut for Nancy was Cameroonian teenager Landry Nguemo. Another camerooniang teenager Sebastien Bassong (19) started as center defender for FC Metz as they drew 0-0 with Strasbourg.

The big shock in France, however, was Lens’ 7-0 mauling of Auxerre. Benoit Assou Ekotto started at left back for Lens and had a very effective game going forward and indeed one of his crosses set up a Lens goal. Jean Makoun played in midfield for Lille as they drew 0-0 with Sochaux. Also playing in a tie was Bill Tchato who started at left back for Nice in their 1-1 draw with Nantes. Tchato was beaten off the dribble on the play which became Nantes’ game tying goal in the opening minute of the 2nd half. Achille Emana of Toulouse has been the subject of rumors about Lyon’s interest in acquiring him to help fill the vacancy in their midfield caused by Michael Essien’s departure to Chelsea. Over the weekend Emana played in central midfield for Toulouse in their 1-1 draw with St. Etienne. Emana started the game off quite well but faded a bit as it wore on and unfortunately was involved in St. Etienne’s game tying goal as a hard shot took a deflection off his leg and into the Toulouse net. Emana, however, was not charged with an own goal.

In Ligue 2, two rounds of play took place this week. Over the weekend Creteil maintained their lead atop Ligue 2 after beating Montpellier 3-0. Eugene Ekobo was Creteil’s captain and once again played a solid game in midfield for the club from outside Paris. Starting at centerback for Montpellier in the match was Alexis Ngambi. Veteran Bertin Tokene started at centerback for Brest as they beat Chateauroux 1-0. Both Patrick Leugueun and Pierre Njanka started at central defender for Istres as they lost 1-0 to Clermont. Leuguen was red carded for picking up 2 yellow cards in the match just before the end of the first half. Gilbert Bayiha was in goal for Grenoble as they defeated Guingamp 1-0 and Marcus Mokake started at attacking midfield and played the first 61 minutes of the match as Sedan beat Lorient 1-0. During the week there were two Cameroonian goals in the same Ligue 2 match. In Sedan’s 2-2 draw with Istres, Marcus Mokake scored Sedan’s 2nd goal in the 15th minute before he was subbed out after 56 minutes of play. 3 minutes later Istres’ central defender Patrick Leuguen scored a goal on a header off of a corner kick. Also playing in that match was Istres’ defender Pierre Njanka who moved to the club in the summer from Sedan. Elsewhere in midweek Ligue 2 play, Eugene Ekobo was in midfield for Creteil in their 1-1 draw with LeHavre. Bertin Tokene entered as a defensive sub for Brest in their 4-1 loss to Bastia. Gilbert Bayiha was Grenoble’s goalkeeper in their 2-1 victory over Laval and Alexis Ngambi played centerback for Montpellier in their 2-1 win over Amiens.

Germany

This weekend there were not any league matches played in Germany but it was the opening week of German Cup play. Timothee Atouba again started at left back for his new club Hamburg as they won 5-1 over lower division Stuttgart Kickers. Atouba scored a goal in the 69th minute of the match. Also scoring in Cup play was forward Francis Kioyo of 2nd Division Energie Cottbus who found the net in the 56th minute of his club’s 2-2 draw with Bochum. Cottbus eventually won the match on penalties. But there was bad news for Kioyo as he was suspended for 3 league matches due to an off the ball incident the previous week in a Bundesliga 2 game. Cyrille Florent Bella started at forward as his 3rd Division club Rot Weiss Oberhausen lost 2-1 to First Division Eintracht Frankfurt. Lucien Mettomo played at centerback as Kaiserslutern defeated Eintracht Trier 3-0 and Marc Gouiffe a Goufan played at defensive midfield as his Bundesliga 2 team Paderborn were defeated 2-0 by First Division Wolfsburg. Also playing this weekend in the German Cup was German U-20 international of Cameroonian descent Marvin Job Matip who started at centerback as his Bundesliga team FC Cologne were upset 3-1 by lower division Kickers Offenbach. Because Marvin Job Matip has elected to represent Germany we won’t be following his weekly exploits but did want to inform our readers of his status. There is another German born player whom we also believe is of Cameroonian descent and that is Gouiffe a Goufan’s teammate at Paderborn midfielder Marcel Biyouha Ndjeng.

Portugal

This was the opening weekend of league play in Portugal and many Cameroonian players were in action. League play kicked off on Friday night with the matchup between Sporting Lisbon and Belenenses which Sporting won 2-1. Playing on both wings for the victors was Rudolph Douala who was his active and electric self creating several scoring opportunites for himself and teammates. Playing the first 67 minutes but proving ineffective on the night at forward for Belenenses was Albert Meyong. Two Cameroonians started in Boavista’s scoreless draw with Vitoria Setubal. Goalkeeper William Andem was Boavista’s hero making several key saves to preserve the shutout. Also playing in that match, and making his Portuguese league debut was 20 year old midfielder Guy Stephane Essame who played a vital link role in Boavista’s midfield. In Portugal’s 2nd Division (Liga de Honra), Yohanna Buba started at centerback for recently relegated Estoril. Buba scored a goal in the 51st minute as Estoril beat Portimonense 4-1. Playing defensive midfield for newly relegated Moreirense in their 2-1 loss to Covilha was Clement Beaud.

Turkey

In Turkey, Galatasaray maintained their unbeaten record after 3 matches with a 5-2 win over Malatyaspor. Playing strong games for Galatsaray in the match were centerback Rigobert Song and defensive midfielder Alioum Saidou, who played against the team where he was on loan last season. Souleymanou Hamidou played in goal for Denizlispor as they lost 3-1 to Kayserispor. Also losing by that identical score was Ankaragucu, where left back Herve Zengue started, to Trabzonspor. Both Denizlispor and Ankaragucu have gotten off to slow starts in the new league season earning one point each after 3 matches. Raymond Kalla made his Turkish league debut coming on as a last minute defensive sub for Sivasspor in their 2-1 win over Samsunspor. Keeping goal for the losing team was Ali Uyanik (aka Boukar Alioum).

Belgium

Eric Matoukou started at centerback for Racing Genk in his club’s 1-1 draw with Westerlo. Genk had a potentially game winning goal called back for a push by Matoukou. Patrice Noukeu started at midfield for Mouscron in their 1-0 loss to Charleroi.

Switzerland

In Swiss league play Augustine Simo started in midfield as Aarau lost 7-2 to Basel. Armand Deumi remains injured for FC Thun.

Eastern Europe

Pierre Boya warmed up for Partizan Belgrade’s key Champions League qualifier this week by starting over the weekend at forward in his club’s 1-0 win over Habitfarm in Serbia & Montenegro. Mathias Chago missed Dinamo Zagreb’s win in Croatia due to a slight injury. In Bosnia & Hercegovina, William Tabi started in midfield as Siroki Brijeg defeated Leotar 3-0. In Poland, Ferdinand Chifon started in midfield and played the first 80 minutes as newly promoted GKS Belchatow scored their first league win of the season 2-0 over Gornik Leczna. Francois Endene Elokan came on as a substitute in midfield in the 67th minute as Pogon Szczecin lost 4-1 to Amica Wronki. In Russia, Jerry Christian Tchuisse played right back as FK Moscow lost 1-0 to Rostov. In Latvia, Aaron Nguimbat at centerback and Parfait Ngon at forward started for Skonto Riga as they drew 1-1 with league leaders Liepajas Metalurg. Jean Paul Ndjomeck started at centerback for FK Ventspils in their 6-1 win over Olimps.

Scandinavia

In Finland, Marc Ndikumade played in midfield as TP 47 beat KuPS 3-1. Serge N’Gal started at forward as Inter Turku lost 1-0 to FC Lahti. In Norway Patrick Suffo played at forward as Odd Grenland lost 2-1 to Molde and in Sweden Joseph Elanga played left back in Malmo’s 1-1 tie with Orgryte.

United States

In the United States, midfielder Alain Nkong scored on a powerful shot in the 78th minute as Colorado Rapids beat New England Revolution 2-0.

China

This week we’ll discuss the Cameroonian born players in China. In the Chinese equivalent of a first division there are 3 Cameroonians. 20 year old defensive midfielder Albert Baning and 22 year old forward Didier Njewel with newly promoted Shanghai Zobon and veteran libero Leon Lebe with Liaoning. In Division 2 there’s one time Indomitable Lion, Bertin Bayard Tomou, a forward with Zhejiang Lucheng.

Last season the 1.93m tall Baning was voted the best foreign player in China’s version of a 2nd Division as his club won promotion. This season both Baning, and one time Dynamo Douala player Didier Njewel, the club’s top scorer, are key members of Shanghai Zobon’s team. Unfortunately their club is 3rd from the bottom in the league standings. Lebe’s Liaoning is only one place above them. This past weekend Shangahi Zobon lost 1-0 to runaway league leaders Dalian Shide. the previous week, however, Njewel scored a goal as Zobon again lost 2-1 to Tianjin Teda. Lebe’s team Liaoning drew 1-1 with Shenyang. We thank Arnaud Nyobe for his assistance in providing us with information on Cameroon’s players in China. Remember if you have any information on Cameroonian professional players not mentioned in this article, please click on my name below and send me an e-mail.

Malaysia

In the Malaysia Cup, Christian Beckamengo continues scoring goals for his club Negri Sembilan. Midweek he scored as his club defeated Melaka Telekom, where Alain Njoh Njoh plays, 3-2. Over the weekend he scored again as his club drew 1-1 with Kuala Lumpur. Bernard Tchoutang also played in the Malaysia Cup, at forward for Pahang, but his club were surprisingly beaten 2-0 by Selangor MPPJ.

Indonesia

Rudolph Ebendje scored as his club Deltras drew 2-2 with PSIS. Stay tuned next week as we’ll update Cameroon’s players in the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup qualifying matches. By Martin COUTLER

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