a écrit le 29 février 2012 à 0h11 (...) Cameroon really shouldn't have any problems overcoming Guinea-Bissau, ranked 166 in the world by Fifa, in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Wednesday, but the issue is what on earth they are doing playing at this stage in the first place.
They joined 26 other teams who had failed to qualify for this year's Cup of Nations (including Nigeria and Egypt) and they play each other in two-leg play-offs, the first on Wednesday, then the second in June. The winners then meet the 16 sides who made it to this year's Cup of Nations, the winners of those games going through to South Africa.
That means that even if Cameroon beat Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria beat Rwanda, they could end up facing Zambia, Ivory Coast or Ghana for a place in the finals.
That has prompted serious soul-searching in Cameroon(...)
Jules Nyonga is one of the most respected coaches in Cameroon, having worked with the national team as either assistant or manager between 1984 and 1996, as well as qualifying them for the 2006 Cup of Nations in Egypt: "There is a stark difference between the time when [Rigobert] Song was captain and now," he said. "He knew how to rally the team. He wasn't condescending. He considered himself part of the team, which Eto'o does not. He is a crushing personality, because of his wealth and international standing."
One specific example stands out. "He came down from his room for breakfast," Nyonga said, "and found some young players who had just been drafted into the national team and said to them: 'Petits, did you sleep well?' He was very condescending and that reveals his state of mind. And that's irritating to other members of the national team, who may not be as rich as Eto'o – Alexandre Song and Achille Emana especially found it irritating; they found it unacceptable and could not tolerate it because they deserve some amount of respect."
"They felt Eto'o should not be able to give them lessons in conduct. And then there were matches when Eto'o would give his team-mates a bonus from his own pocket then look down on his team-mates. There were problems with the way Eto'o spoke, referring to 'my people' and 'my team'. Many thought it was extremely arrogant(...)"
They joined 26 other teams who had failed to qualify for this year's Cup of Nations (including Nigeria and Egypt) and they play each other in two-leg play-offs, the first on Wednesday, then the second in June. The winners then meet the 16 sides who made it to this year's Cup of Nations, the winners of those games going through to South Africa.
That means that even if Cameroon beat Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria beat Rwanda, they could end up facing Zambia, Ivory Coast or Ghana for a place in the finals.
That has prompted serious soul-searching in Cameroon(...)
Jules Nyonga is one of the most respected coaches in Cameroon, having worked with the national team as either assistant or manager between 1984 and 1996, as well as qualifying them for the 2006 Cup of Nations in Egypt: "There is a stark difference between the time when [Rigobert] Song was captain and now," he said. "He knew how to rally the team. He wasn't condescending. He considered himself part of the team, which Eto'o does not. He is a crushing personality, because of his wealth and international standing."
One specific example stands out. "He came down from his room for breakfast," Nyonga said, "and found some young players who had just been drafted into the national team and said to them: 'Petits, did you sleep well?' He was very condescending and that reveals his state of mind. And that's irritating to other members of the national team, who may not be as rich as Eto'o – Alexandre Song and Achille Emana especially found it irritating; they found it unacceptable and could not tolerate it because they deserve some amount of respect."
"They felt Eto'o should not be able to give them lessons in conduct. And then there were matches when Eto'o would give his team-mates a bonus from his own pocket then look down on his team-mates. There were problems with the way Eto'o spoke, referring to 'my people' and 'my team'. Many thought it was extremely arrogant(...)"
