Samuel Etoo’s Triumphant Return to Mallorca and Pierre Boya, a new star at Belgrade

Samuel Etoo’s return to Mallorca on Sunday could not have gone better for him, scoring 2 goals as Barcelona beat his old club Mallorca 3-1. Showing his class, Eto’o refused to celebrate his goals in front of the fans who still adore him in Mallorca. His 2 goals give him 4 for the week and 5 in 5 league matches tying him with Osasuna’s Savo Milosevic for the league lead.

Spain

Eto’o Fils‘s first goal was via a penalty for a foul on a Ronaldinho in the box. His second, a few minutes later, was after receiving a through ball from Henrik Larsson he lifted the ball over the advancing goalkeeper, rounded him, controlled the ball then tapped it into the empty net.

Barcelona also played another league game earlier in the week winning 4-1 over Zaragoza with Eto’o once again starting at forward. Eto’o made a mistake early on in the game when his weakly hit backpass was intercepted by Zaragoza forward David Villa who then scored the game’s opening goal. But Eto’o soon made amends. He brought a long ball down to the left of the box, cut across the top just outside the penalty area then fired a beautiful right footed shot from outside the area to the near post. Later in the half he received a pin point pass from Ronaldinho and flicked home his second goal of the game.

Carlos Kameni started in goal for both of Espanyol’s games this past week. Espanyol lost their unbeaten record losing midweek to newly promoted Getafe 1-0 on an own goal. Kameni made several nice saves during the game but couldn’t do anything about the own goal. Daniel Ngom Kome has yet to play for Getafe due to injury and lack of match practice. Over the weekend Kameni had little to do in Espanyol’s 1-0 win over a punchless Malaga.

Elsewhere in Spain, Pierre Achille Webo made his 2nd league appearance of the season as he came off the bench as a substitute in the 82nd minute of Osasuna’s 2-1 win over Getafe.

France

17 year old Alexandre Song continues to impress for Bastia. He once again played a solid match at defensive midfield during Bastia 1-0 loss to Marseille. Paul Essola also entered as a substitute for Bastia in the 71st minute of play. But the game was turned around by Salomon Olembe‘s entrance as a sub on the left wing for Marseille in the 75th minute. Olembe set up the only goal of the game by taking the ball to the end line and cutting it back to a teammate inside the box to score.

Lille’s 4-0 win over Metz saw 3 Cameroonians in action. Benoit Angbwa (right back for Lille) and Herve Tum (forward for Metz) both started and Jean Makoun entered as a sub in midfield for Lille at the start of the second half. In Toulouse’s 1-1 draw with Bordeaux, Achille Emana started at right side midfield for Toulouse and Henri Bedimo Nsame came on as a defensive sub in the 79th minute.

In his second match of the season left back Benoit Assou Ekotto had a strong game for Lens in his club’s 1-0 loss to Nantes. Assou Ekotto’s play earned him a spot on French daily L’equipe’s team of the week (L’equipe type).

Elsewhere in France’s Ligue 1, Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe played for Rennes (0-2 v Nice) and Modeste Mbami for PSG (1-0 v Strasbourg).

In Ligue 2, Gilbert Bayiha in goal and Bertin Tokene at centerback started in Grenoble’s 2-1 win over Laval. In the 0-0 draw between Gueugnon and Sedan, Alexis Ngambi (Gueugnon) and Marcus Mokake (Sedan) started for their clubs and Pierre Njanka (Sedan) entered as a 2nd half defensive sub.

Also playing this past weekend were Martin Ekani at centerback for Angers (2-0 v Amiens), Julien N’Da at left back for Niort (4-0 over Lorient), Stephane Biakolo as a 2nd half sub at forward for Niort and Eugene Ekobo in midfield for Creteil (1-1 v Dijon).

England

In the English Premier League, Joseph Desire Job entered as a sub for the injured Ray Parlour in the 36th minute of his club’s 1-0 loss to Chlesea. Job played well while on the field but was injured himself (leg) and had to leave the match in the 66th minute. Lauren again was solid at right back for Arsenal in his club’s 1-0 win over Manchester City.

In the Championship (2nd Division), 3 Cameroonians came on as 2nd half subs: Patrick Suffo at forward for Coventry City (1-1 v Sheffield United), Mathias Doumbe in defense for Plymouth (2-3 v Ipswich) and making his club debut, Serge Branco for Leeds United (3-2 for Leicester City).

Portugal

Rudolph Douala had a very active game as a right sided forward for Sporting LIsbon in their scoreless draw with Rio Ave. Douala created many opportunities for his teammates but none were able to score as Sporting continued their indifferent start to the new season. Yohanna Buba had a good game in central defense for Estoril in their 1-0 win over Belenenses.

Albert Meyong, like the rest of his teammates, disappointed in Vitoria Setubal’s 2-1 loss to Beira Mar. Meanwhile goalkeeper William Andem had to leave the match with a suspected leg injury as Boavista lost 2-1 to Maritimo.

Germany

In the Bundesliga, Mohamadou Idrissou made his league debut this season, after a long term injury, in Hannover’s 1-0 win over Schalke. Idrissou had an active match and even had a goal bound shot cleared off the line by an opposing defender. Raymond Kalla and Bochum disappointed in their 4-1 loss to champions Werder Bremen.

In Bundesliga 2, Francis Kioyo played well at forward in Rot Weiss Essen’s 3-2 loss to Wacker Burghausen. Daniel Wansi started at right wing for Dynamo Dresden’s 3-2 loss to FC Koln and Cyrille Florent Bella entered as a late sub for LR Ahlen’s 1-1 draw with Erfurt.

Belgium

In Belgium, Justice Wamfor, Samuel Ipoua and Guy Bertrand Mamoun remain injured with their respective clubs. Eric Matoukou was solid, as usual, at centerback for Racing Genk in their 2-1 win over Germinal Beerschot. Also playing this week were Mathias Assou Ekotto in midfield for La Louviere (1-0 loss to Standard Liege), Patrice Noukeu in midfield for Mouscron (1-0 loss to La Gantoise) and Aloys Nong at forward for FC Brussels (6-1 loss to FC Bruges).

Turkey

Rigobert Song, at centerback, and Alioum Saidou, in midfield, started for Galatasaray as their club remained in 3rd place in the league with a 4-1 win over Istanbulspor. Souleymanou Hamidou started in goal as Denizlispor defeated Ankaragucu 2-0. Herve Zengue entered as a substitute fro Ankaragucu in midfield in the 77th minute.

Greece

In Greece, Pierre Ebede started in goal for Chalidona in his club’s 1-0 loss to Iraklis. Guy Feutchine started in midfield as PAOK Salonika lost 2-0 to Panionios and Jean Denis Ouanga started in mdifield, but was subbed out after 30 minutes, as Kallithea defeated Ergotelis 3-0.

Switzerland

Augustine Simo started in midfield for Aarau in his club’s 1-0 win over champions FC Basel. Armand Deumi was at centerback in FC Thun’s 3-1 loss to Servette Geneva.

Elsewhere in Europe, 20 year old forward Pierre Boya continued his goalscoring exploits, netting 2 goals in Serbia & Montenegro, as his club Partizan Belgrade maintained their league lead by defeating Obilic 4-1. Boya scored in the 66th and 90th minutes. In Sweden, Malmo also remained atop of the league and Joseph Elanga once again started at left wingback as they defeated Hammarby 4-3. Earlier in the week, Elanga also started in Malmo’s 2-1 win over Orebro. In the Czech Republic, Patrice Abanda started at centerback for Drnovice in their 2-0 win over Ceske Budejovice.

Last week we mentioned how we were looking for more information on Cameroon’s players in Ukraine and Russia. Since that time we’ve learned that Moses Molongo no longer plays for Volska Poltava in Ukraine but we do not know if he is out of contract or has signed with another club. But 2 other Cameroonians did play in Ukraine this week. Patrick Ebanda started in defensive midfield for Arsenal Kyiv in their 3-0 loss to Shaktor Donetsk. Ebanda did leave the match, however, after 16 minutes. Ernest Siankam came on as a late sub for Volyn Lutsk in his club’s scoreless draw with Borysfen. In Uruguay, Alain N’Kong came on as a substitute in the 78th minute of his club Nacional’s 3-0 win over Fenix.

COUTLER Martin, martin@camfoot.com

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