Lions in Europe: A great performance for Carlos Kameni in Spain

In what was generally a quiet weekend for Cameroon’s players in Europe, the biggest story was probably Carlos Kameni’s play for Espanyol preserving his club’s win over Real Madrid by saving a penalty kick from Ronaldo. This week’s review of Cameroon’s players in Europe.

–Spain Carlos Kameni started in goal and played a big role in Espanyol’s 1-0 win at home over Real Madrid. Kameni made several good saves throughout the match but his biggest came early in the second half when he saved a penalty from Ronaldo.

Kameni said he knew Ronaldo often went to a goalie’s left on penalties and he went that way and made the agile save, stretching full to his left to bat the ball away. The win puts Espanyol atop of the league after three matches with 7 points. Six teams are tied with 7 points but Espanyol has the best goal differential. –Samuel Eto’o started at forward for Barcelona in the club’s 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid. The draw also moves Barcelona to 7 ponts in La Liga. Eto’o was substituted by Henrik Larsson at the beginning of the second half. Although Eto’o did not play a brilliant game it is worth noting that Barcelona played better while Eto’o was on the field. On Monday Eto’o told the Spanish daily Sport that he still feels as if he’s only playing at 60% of his capability after missing much of the preseason due to his lengthy transfer saga. –Portugal

Rudolph Douala Mbela (Sporting Portugal)

In Portugal, William Andem was in goal for Boavista and Albert Meyong started at forward for Vitoria Setubal in the clubs’ 1-1 draw. Meyong was substituted out of the match in the 79th minute and the draw allowed Benfica to overtake both clubs in first place in Portugal’s Super Liga. Yohanna Buba started at centerback for Estoril in his club’s 2-2 draw with European champion FC Porto. Rudolph Douala started his first league match of the season for Sporting Lisbon in his club’s 1-0 loss to Maritimo. Douala created several good chances for his teammates but they were not converted. –England Lauren started at right back for Arsenal in their 2-2 draw with Bolton. Timothee Atouba started at left midfield for Tottenham in their 0-0 draw with Chelsea and Joseph Desire Job entered as a sub in the 59th minute for Middlesbrough in his club’s 1-0 loss to Everton. Job, unfortunately ended up missing Middlesbrough’s best chance of the game. In the 2nd level of English football (called the Championship), Patrick Suffo entered as a sub for Coventry City in their 0-0 draw with Rotherham. During the week Suffo once again came on as a sub in Coventry’s 2-2 tie with Gillingham. It is also worth noting that Serge Branco signed a one month contract with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship. He’ll have to show what he has within that short period of time to earn a longer contract with the club. –France

In France Toulouse lost their lead in Ligue 1 when they were beaten 1-0 by Marseille. Both Achille Emana and Henri Bedimo Nsame started for Toulouse but were subbed out before the end of the game. 17 year old Alexandre Song played at centerback for Bastia in his club’s 0-0 draw with current titlists Lyon. Song played well in this match in a position where he is not accustomed (he normally plays defensive midfield). Paul Essola also started in midfield for Bastia in this match. These other Cameroonians also played for their Ligue 1 clubs this weekend: Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe was at right back for Rennes (0-0 v Bordeaux), Herve Tum at forward for Metz (0-4 v Auxerre), Jean Makoun in midfield for Lille (2-0 win over Caen), and Modeste Mbami and Jean Hugues Ateba were in midfield for PSG in their club’s 1-0 loss to Monaco.

In Ligue 2, Alexis Ngambi started at centerback for Gueugnon in their 1-0 win over Grenoble. Ngambi, however, was red carded in the 28th minute. Bertin Tokene started at centerback for Grenoble in this match. These Cameroonians also played over the weekend: Martin Ekani at centerback for Angers (0-1 v Guingamp), Joel Tchami at forward for Laval ( 1-1 v LeHavre), Marcus Mokake at forward for Sedan (0-0 v Reims) and Eugene Ekobo in midfield for Creteil (3-1 v Chateauroux). –Germany Raymond Kalla was at centerback for Bochum in their 1-1 with freiburg. Elsewhere in the Bundesliga Bill Tchato and Mohamadou Idrissou were injured for their clubs and could not play. In Bundesliga 2, Francis Kioyo started at forward for Rot Weiss Essen in their 4-2 win over Energie Cottbus. Cyrille Florent Bella also was at forward in Ahlen’s 2-2 draw with Eintracht Trier. –Belgium 2000 Olympian Nicolas Alnoudji, a defensive midfielder, signed a one year contract with Mons in Belgium’s Jupiler league. Alnoudji was previously with Al Ain in the United Araba Emirates.

Mathieu Assou Ekotto started in midfield for La Louviere in his club’s 3-1 win over Mouscron. Patrice Noukeu missed the match for Mouscron due to yellow card accumulation. Eric Matoukou was at centerback for Racing Genk’s 0-0 tie with Westerlo. His teammate Justice Wamfor is still injured and did not play. Aloys Nong was at forward in FC Brussels 0-2 loss to Germinal Beerschot and Samuel Ipoua entered as a late sub for St. Trond in their scoreless draw with Ostende. –Greece This was the opening weekend of action in Greece and three Cameroonians played for their respective clubs. Guy Feutchine started at right back for PAOK Salonika in their 1-0 win over Kerkira. Feutchine had to leave the match, however, in the 43rd minute with an injury. Pierre Ebede was in goal for Chalkidona as they defeated Panionios 1-0 while Jean Denis Ouanga was the playmaking midfielder for Kallithea in their 2-1 loss to Greek giants Olympiakos. –Turkey In Turkey, Rigobert Song once again was at the heart of Galatasaray’s defense in their 0-0 draw in the Istanbul derby with Besiktas. Souleymanou Hamidou kept a clean sheet in goal as Denizlispor defeated Diyarbakispor 1-0. –Switzerland In Switzerland it was Cup day and numerous Cameroonians were in action with their respective clubs. Achille Njanke kept up his great goalscoring record with 2nd division FC Meyrin as he scored twice in his club’s 3-0 win over Signal. Landry Ebanga Kebe also entered as a late sub for Meyrin in this match.

Augustine Simo (FC Aarau) and Armand Deumi (FC Thun) both started in their 1st division clubs’ wins over lower divison teams. Meanwhile Jean Michel Tchouga at forward (Luzern), Francis Ze in midfield (Chiasso) and Jean Francois Bell (defense) all started for their 2nd division clubs’ victories over lower division opponents. Elsewhere, Joseph Elanga started at left side midfield for Malmo’s 2-0 win over Djurgardens in Sweden. With 6 matches to play in the Swedish league season, Malmo is tied for first with IFK Goteborg. In the former Yugoslavia, young forward Pierre Boya started as his club, league leaders Partizan Belgrade, defeated Buducnost 2-0. In the Czech Republic, Patrice Abanda started his second consecutive match following his August 31 transfer from Sparta Prague to FK Drnovice. Abanda had a strong game at defensive midfield but FK Drnovice lost 2-1 to Slavia Prague.

Lions in UEFA Competitions

– Champions league There were plenty of players from Cameroon in action this week in the Champions League and UEFA Cup in Europe. In the Champions League, Lauren played a very solid game for Arsenal in his club’s 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven. Lauren controlled the right side of the field and took PSV’s young US international winger DaMarcus Beasley out of the match.

Samuel Eto’o started at forward for Barcelona in their impressive 3-1 win at Celtic. Eto’o played primarily on the left for Barcelona and was involved in some of his club’s effective passing game but he didn’t really have many opportunities at goal. He was subbed out in the 74th minute. Chelsea’s 3-0 win at the Parc des Princes over PSG saw 3 Cameroonians play. Geremi entered as a sub in midfield for Chelsea in the 70th minute while Modeste Mbami started in midfield for PSG and Jean Hugues Ateba came on as a sub in midfield in the 84th minute for the French club who continued their poor domestic league play in Europe. Eric Djemba Djemba started at defensive midfield and had a pretty quiet game in Manchester United’s 2-2 draw at Lyon. Emile Mbamba came on as a sub in the 72nd minute for his new club Maccabi Tel Aviv in their 1-0 home loss to Bayern Munich. – UEFA Cup In the UEFA Cup, 20 year old forward Pierre Boya started and scored Partizan Belgrade’s 2nd goal of the game with a shot from outside the box in his club’s 3-1 win over Dinamo Bucharest. Nana Falemi played in midfield as Steaua Bucharest beat CSKA Sofia 2-1. Israeli club’s Bnei Sakhnin’s first ever game in Europe ended in a 2-0 loss at Newcastle United in a bad tempered game. Ernest Etchi started at centerback for the Israeli club.

Shelbourne of Ireland scored two late goals to tie Lille of France in a game played in a downpour in Dublin. Jospeh Ndo started in midfield for Shelbourne but was substituted out at the half. For Lille, Benoit Angbwa and Jean Makoun started at right back and central midfield respectively. Raymond Kalla started at centerback for Bochum as they drew 0-0 at Standard Liege. While Rudolph Douala played his first match of the season for Sporting Lisbon in the club’s 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna. Douala and another forward came on as subs at the beginning of the second half and turned the game in Sporting’s favor. COUTLER Martin, martin@camfoot.com

We are also trying to find reliable sources so we can keep everyone updated weekly on Cameroon’s players in Russia, Ukraine and Latvia. These are the players we know of in Russia: Didier Biang (Kuban Krasnodar), Patrice Tonga (Kuban Krasnodar), Jerry Christian Tchuisse (FK Moscow), Bertrand Ngapun (FK Rostov) and Luke Owona Zoah (Spartak Moscow). In Ukraine are: Patrice Ebanda (Arsenal Kyiv), Moses Molongo (Vorskla Poltava) and Ernest Siankam (Volyn Lutsk). In Latvia: Aaron Nguimbat (Skonto Riga). If you know of any additional Camerioonian players in these countries or a way to keep track of these players’ weekly exploits, please contact us at the e-mail listed below.