This week’s star performers amongst Cameroon’s players in Europe were Lauren in England, Rudolph Douala in Portugal, Lucien Mettomo and Raymond Kalla in Germany and Aarong Nguimbat’s club wins the championship in Latvia. Due to the upcoming internationals, there was no league action in Turkey, Greece and Serbia and Montenegro.
England
Lauren Etame Mayer was the only Cameroonian in action over the weekend in the Premier League but he was impressive in Arsenal’s wild 5-4 victory over neighbors Tottenham. Lauren set up Arsenal’s first goal with a nice through ball to Thierry Henry then the Gunners right back scored the club’s 2nd with a penalty kick in the 55th minute.
In the Championship, Mathias Doumbe started at cenetrback for Plymouth in their 2-1 loss to Coventry City. Patrick Suffo entered as a late substitution for Coventry.
Germany
In the Bundesliga, Raymond Kalla had a strong match in central defense for Bochum even though his club lost to Bayern Munich 3-1. Lucien Mettomo, for the 2nd week in a row, started and played well for Kaiserslautern as a centerback in his club’s 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Bill Tchato also had a pretty solid game at left back for Kaiserslautern in the same match.
In Bundesliga 2, Francis Kioyo scored his 4th goal of the season in Rot Weiss Essen’s 1-1 draw with Alemania Aachen. Kioyo scored in the 47th minute of the game for his 4th goal in the last 5 matches. LR Ahlen’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Dresden saw Cameroonians on both sides. Cyrille Florent Bella started at forward for Ahlen and set up his club’s 2nd goal while Daniel Wansi entered as an offensive sub for Dresden in the 74th minute.
Midweek there were games in the German Cup and only 2 Cameroonians saw action. 21 year old Patrice M’Bock started at right back for Bayern Munich’s reserve team which competes in the German Regionalliga Sud (regional 3rd Division). M’Bock started in the German Cup as his club defeated Braunschweig 3-2. Cyrille Florent Bella came on as a sub in the 87th minute of LR Ahlen’s match with first division Hansa Rostock. With his first touch of the ball Bella headed in Ahlen’s 2nd goal sending the match into extra time where Rostock eventually prevailed 3-2.
France
In Ligue 1 Jean Makoun was the standout Cameroonian this week. He had a strong game in central midfield for Lille in his club’s 1-1 draw with European runner up Monaco. Also starting for Lille in that match was Benoit Angbwa at right back. The remainder of Cameroon’s players in Ligue 1 had less than stellar performances. Alexandre Song started in central defense for Bastia in his club’s 3-0 loss to St. Etienne. Benoit Assou Ekotto was at left back for Lens in their 1-1 draw with Nice but was substituted out at the start of the 2nd half. Achille Emana had a relatively quiet game in midfield for Toulouse in their 1-1 tie with Rennes. Modeste Mbami in midfield struggled in PSG’s 3-0 defeat at Bordeaux and Patrick Leugueun in defense for Istres also had a rough go of it before leaving at the start of the 2nd half in his club’s 1-1 draw with Sochaux. Herve Tum of Metz and Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe sat out the 2nd straight matches for their clubs due to injuries.
In Ligue 2, the battle between struggling Niort and Creteil ended in a 1-0 Niort win. Julien N’Da at left back and Stephane Biakolo at forward both started for Niort while Eugene Ekobo was in midfield for Creteil. Sedan’s 2-0 win over Montpellier also saw Cameroonians on both sides of the ball. Marcus Mokake started at forward and played 62 minutes for victorious Sedan while Thierry Gathuessi was in central defense for Montpellier. Also playing this week in Ligue 2 were centerbacks Alexis Ngambi of Gueugnon (2-1 v Lorient); Martin Ekani of Angers (0-0 v LeHavre); and Bertin Tokene of Grenoble (1-2 v Troyes). Forward Joel Tchami started for Laval in their 1-0 loss to Chateauroux before he was subbed out after 60 minutes.
Midweek there were games in the French League Cup and these Cameroonians played: Jean Makoun in midfield for Lille (3-2 aet v Lyon); Jean Hugues Ateba in midfield for PSG (3-2 v Marseille); Patrick Leuguen at centerback for Istres (2-4 aet v Guingamp); Marcus Mokake at forward for Sedan (0-1 v Monaco); Thierry Gathuessi at centerback for Montpellier (3-1 v Reims); Benoit Assou Ekotto at left back for Lens(1-1; 5-4 on penalties v Nice); Henri Bedimo Nsame in midfield for Toulouse (0-0 4-5 on penalties v Clermont); Eugene Ekobo in midfield for Creteil (1-3 v St. Etienne) and Alexandre Song at defensive midfield for Bastia (2-1 v Metz). Coming in as subs for their respective teams were Joel Tchami at forward for Laval (1-2 v Nantes) and Jacques Momha in defense for Strasbourg (3-1 v Troyes).
Spain
Samuel Eto’o and Barcelona lost for the first time this season in Spain’s La Liga. Eto’o started at forward but was held in check in Barcelona’s 2-1 loss at Real Betis. Next weekend is Barcelona’s big clash with second place Real Madrid. Carlos Kameni was solid in goal as Espanyol moved into 3rd place in the league with a 2-1 victory over Racing Santander. Pierre Webo started at forward for Osasuna in their 1-0 win over Real Sociedad. Webo was subbed off after 64 minutes with his replacement netting the game winner.
Portugal
Belgium
Due to the upcoming international matches there were no league games played over the weekend in Belgium but during the week, games were played. Eric Matoukou at centerback and Justice Wamfor in midfield started in Racing Genk’s 1-1 draw with La Gantoise. Patrice Noukeu was at central midfield for Mouscron in his club’s 1-0 loss to Charleroi. Coming on as subs this week were forward Aloys Nong of FC Brussels who came on in the 71st minute of his club’s 2-2 draw with Ostende and Matthieu Assou Ekotto of La Louviere who entered as a sub in midfield in the 70th minute of his team’s 1-0 win over St. Trond.
Elsewhere in Europe, 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist Aaron Nguimbat started at centerback for Latvia’s Skonto Riga in their 6-0 destruction of FK Dutton. The win gave Skonto Riga their 14th consecutive league championship in Latvia! In Russia the league season also ended and Jerry Christian Tchuisse started at centerback for FK Moscow in his club’s 3-1 loss to CSKA Moscow. Bertrand Ngapunu also played at centerback in his club Rostov’s 1-4 loss to Lokomotiv Moscow. FK Moscow finished the Russian season in 9th place in the 16 team league while Rostov ended up in 12th place.
In Switzerland, Armand Deumi started in central defense for FC Thun in their 3-1 loss to St. Gallen. Coming on as a sub for FC Thun in that game was forward Samuel Ojong who came on in the 46th minute after a long injury layoff. 2 Cameroonians played in FC Aarau’s 1-1 tie with Young Boys Berne. Defender Jean Pierre Tcheutchoua and midfielder Augustine Simo started before they were subbed off in the 83rd and 46th minutes respectively.
In Italy’s Serie B, defender Alain Bono started for Ternana in their 1-0 loss to Piacenza while Thomas Job Iyock played at right side midfield for Pescara in his club’s 1-0 loss to Catanzaro.
Martin COUTLER martin@camfoot.com
