Over the weekend in Europe, Albert Meyong scored his 8th goal of the season in Portugal. Meanwhile in Greece, Goalkepeer Pierre Ebede preserved Chalkidona’s win with a key late save of a penalty kick. In England, Lauren helped lead Arsenal into the semifinals of the FA Cup.
Portugal
Albert Meyong scored his 8th goal of the season over the weekend as his club Vitoria Setubal were defeated 3-1 by Vitoria Guimaraes. Meyong netted his goal in the
Elsewhere in Portugal, goalkeeper William Andem received a rare start and played well for Boavista as they beat Belenenses 2-0. Andem, who had been along time starter for the club, had lost his place earlier in the season after being injured and has recently only been playing for Boavista in Cup matches. But the veteran took advantage of the opportunity and played a strong match for his club. Rudolph Douala, who played superbly for Sporting Lisbon last week in their UEFA Cup win at England’s Middlesbrough (scored one goal, set up 2 others in the 3-2 victory) came off the bench over the weekend as Sporting surprisingly lost 2-0 to Penafiel and fell 6 points behind the league leaders.
The previous week William Andem started for Boavista as the beat Maritimo 2-0 in the Portuguese Cup. Making his debut for Boavista in that game as a starting centerback was Georges Nnomo Ambassa who did well in his first official match in Boavista’s checkered shirt.
Greece
PAOK Salonika moved into 5th place in the league table with a 1-0 victory over Ergotelis. Guy Feutchine continued his recovery from injury by enteirng the match as a sub in midfield for PAOK in the 55th minute. Nana Falemi started in defense for Ergotelis. Aris Salonika defeated OFI 3-2 and Samuel Inogue entered the match as a midfield substitute in the 80th minute.
England
Two Cameroonians were in action in England’s FA Cup quarterfinals over the weekend. Lauren started at right back and played a solid match as Arsenal beat Bolton 1-0. Timothee Atouba also started but at left back for Tottenham as they were defeated 1-0 by Newcastle United. Atouba was substituted out in the 63rd minute as Tottenham went in search of a goal.
Spain
Barcelona bounced back from the disappointment of their Champions League elimination by beating an always difficult opponent Athletic Bilbao 2-0. Samuel Eto’o started at forward and missed a good chance to open the scoring in the first half when he overran a low crossing pass in front of goal. Eto’o, who scored his league leading 18th goal the week before, was eventually subbed out of the match in the 78th minute as Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard decided the ever present Eto’o could use a rest.
Barcelona increased their league lead over 2nd place Real Madrid to 11 points as Real Madrid were surprisingly beaten by their unfashiobale neighbors Getafe 2-1. Daniel Ngom Kome entered the game as a midfield substitute for Getafe in the 60th minute. Pierre Webo came back from injury and started at forward but could not help his slumping Osausna club as they once again lost, this time, 4-0 to Levante. Osasuna is now winless in it’s last 11 league matches.
Carlos Kameni was in goal for Espanyol in their battle for a Champions League spot with Villarreal. Villarreal jumped all over Espanyol and emerged victorious 4-1 to move ahead of Espanyol into 3rd place in Spain. Kameni was harshly adjudged to have brought down Diego Forlan for a penalty which was converted for Villarreal’s 3rd goal but replays showed he made minimal contact with the opposing forward. Kameni was helpless to stop the other Villarreal goals but made several good stops to prevent the score from being greater than 4-1.
France
In France’s Ligue 1, Benoit Assou Ekotto, who played very well the week before, had a pretty quiet match at left back as Lens were beaten 2-1 by Marseille. Salomon Olembe appears to have fallen out of favor at Marseille as he did not play for the 2nd consecutive week. In Metz’ 1-1 draw with Rennes, both Metz forward Herve Tum and Rennes right back Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe had quiet matches. Bastia lost 1-0 to Sochaux and Alexandre Song, who otherwise played a very solid match at centerback, allowed Sochaux’s goal as he inexplicably ducked and allowed a pass to skip by him to Sochaux’s goalscorer. In Lille’s 1-1 tie with Toulouse, Benoit Angbwa came on as a substitute for Lille after 76 minutes. By that time, Achille Emana, who started in midfield for Toulouse, had left the match.
In Ligue 2, Stephane Biakolo (forward for LeHavre) and Pierre Njanka (centerback for Sedan) started in their clubs’ scoreless draw. Julien N’Da played at left back for Niort as they lost to Ligue 2 leaders Nancy 2-1. Eugene Ekobo played in midfield for Creteil as they were beaten 1-0 by Troyes. Centerbacks Bertin Tokene (Grenoble 0-2 Brest) and Alexis Ngambi (Gueugnon 1-3 Chateauroux) started in their clubs’ losses over the weekend.
Italy
Pierre Wome started at left wing back for Brescia as they were beaten 3-2 by Livorno. None of Cameroon’s players in Serie B played over the weekend.
Germany
Turkey
Rigobert Song again played a solid match as Galatasaray increased their hold on 2nd place in Turkey with yet another shutout, this time winning 3-0 over Istanbulspor. Midfielder Alioum Saidou celebrated his recent callup by the Indomitable Lions by playing for his club Malatyaspor but they were beaten over the weekend 2-0 by Konyaspor. Denizlispor’s 1-1 draw with Ankaragucu saw Souleymanou Hamidou in goal for Denizlispor. Forward Jean Emmanuel Effa Owona came off the bench for Ankaragucu in the 79th minute. Midweek Effa Owona again came off the bench in a game previously postponed due to bad weather as Ankaragucu beat Istanbulspor 2-1.
Belgium
Elsewhere in Europe, Armand Deumi started in central defense for FC Thun as they defeated FC Basel 3-0 in Switzerland. The Russian Premeir League began it’s new season this weekend and Jerry Christian Tchuisse played in defense for FK Moscow as they were defeated 2-0 by city rivals Spartak Moscow. Serge Branco made his Russian league debut entering as a sub at outside midfield in the 25th minute for his new club Shinnik Yaroslavl who drew 1-1 with Amkar Perm. Midweek Tchuisse again played in central defense for FK Moscow as they lost the 2nd leg of their Russian Cup match to CSKA Moscow 3-1 (5-1 on aggregate).
Uruguay
There are three Cameroonians on Plaza Colonia, a modest club in Uruguay’s First Division. These players are centerback Mustafa Garou (known in Uruguay simply as Mustafa), midfielder/defender Alain Olle Olle and forward Antoine Helha. Helha has not yet been registered by his club with the Uruguayan FA as his player pass has not yet arrived from Cameroon.
Over the weekend both Mustafa and Alain Olle Olle played in Plaza Colonia’s scoreless draw with Fenix. Mustafa received two yellow cards, in the 10th and 24th minutes, and was sent off. When he was sent off, midfielder Olle Olle who had played a pretty solid match in the center of the field switched to defense to cover his countryman’s absence and played extremely well in helping 10 man Plaza Colonia maintain the tie. The previous week, in the opening weekend of play in Uruguay, Mustafa played at centerback as Plaza Colonia were defeated 3-0 by Liverpool. Olle Olle came on as a sub in the 68th minute of that game.
