The Lions are ready to roar
Cameroonian international, Benjamin Moukandjo
Nine internationals give their opinions on this very important clash.
Benjamin Moukandjo: it’s a must-win
We are focused on Saturday’s match, which is another competition (Afcon 2013 qualifier, Ed.). We had a difficult start to the season, but we have gradually grasped what has to be done and for now we are busy preparing for Saturday’s match under the same conditions. It is true that we are a young team in the process of being rebuilt, and that one must not forget. So that in terms of being a team in a period of reconstruction, we are still trying to find our bearings, but I think that for Saturday’s match, we will take it on with the desire to win. I think that in everybody’s heads, winning is what is important, even more so because it is our last match, because after this it is holiday time.
Henri Bedimo: make amends
We are committed to making amends. It is a new competition, the Afcon qualifiers which started off well for us against this Guinea-Bissau side, and we are determined to end it off well, since we already have one foot in the second round, thanks to our win in the first leg. And for Saturday’s match we have placed specific emphasis on our attack during training, since this is a part of our game that is not paying enough dividends, but on the whole, we are fine-tuning the details in almost all the other sections of our game.
Eric-Maxime Choupo Moting: Guinea-Bissau is what is important
Saturday’s clash is the most important match at the moment, and even if last Sunday’s match against Libya is still on our minds a bit with the defeat that we suffered in the dying moments of the game, I think that for now, it is the match against Guinea-Bissau that is the most important and we are trying to concentrate on it. We all know that we can do better, and we will have to prove it on the pitch. The first leg against Guinea-Bissau was really difficult and it was a bit like the match against Libya, where we did not find space to take shots on goal. But on Saturday, we are going to try to be more efficient offensively, but defensively as well.
Nicolas Nkoulou: we have to win
We cannot promise anything to the Cameroonian supporters for now, but we remain focused and certainly motivated by the desire to win. We have to win on Saturday. It is not the time to talk, we have talked a lot and we did not follow through on the field, we are working more, and we will see what happens next. We are a bit frustrated by the ambiance that prevailed at our training sessions last Tuesday, because it is never a nice thing to return home and to be booed in this way. Some of their taunts were really difficult to hear, but I think that the most important for us is to win, because if we win, we will not have all of this to listen to, so we just have to win.
Edgar Sali: give it all
We are preparing for Saturday’s match calmly and serenely, we are trying to do everything to redress the disappointment of last Sunday. And we are working hard to win the next matches. Everyone in the team must give their all; we have the means and the capability to do it, since qualification for the Afcon is achieved by winning matches. We have to qualify for the two competitions, the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup, no matter what the conditions. The team needs everybody to get there; Eto’o cannot do it on his own. It is true that he is good for the team when he is here, but it is not his presence or his absence that makes us win.
Vincent Aboubacar: we are determined
We are remaining focused on the next match, even if the week has ended sadly, because we lost to the Libyans (2-1) in Sfax. This defeat affected us a lot, because we wanted to win this match to have a good start to the competition. Which is why we have to have a good match on Saturday. To do this, we need desire and determination; we need all these parameters to achieve good results. With determination and a keen interest, we can win all of our upcoming matches.
Stéphane Mbia: the duty to win
We know that it will be very difficult with the public who are furious with us with respect to Sunday’s defeat. But we have an advantage on Guinea-Bissau because we beat them on their territory, although this does not mean that the task will be very easy. We have a duty to win, for ourselves and for the Cameroonian public, who have not been very happy for a while now. For Saturday’s match, we are planning to be focused for the set-pieces which caused us a lot of problems in the last clash; nevertheless, in our content we showed good things. We have to keep going.
Landry Nguemo: no room for error
This is a decisive match; there is no room for error. We slipped up against Libya because of a lack of concentration, despite the content which was very good. But we are playing at home and it is up to us to take the game into our own hands. There is no room for error on Saturday in front of our public. The public set the tone at our first training session, so we know what to expect. We have to win the match on Saturday. Our team is young and we are still building it up, so with a bit of patience, we will get back to the top.
Idriss Carlos Kameni: win three points
The whole team needs to get through this bad period of instability, we want to give everything to get there, and we will get there by winning. Now our attention is focused on Saturday’s match, and we must win it, no matter how; the essential is to garner three points to continue in the competition. We know that our supporters are angry with us and we must fix this by winning matches.
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