LG Cup: A decimated pride of Lions face Sudan
Samuel Eto’o, captain of the Indomitable Lions
Following the withdrawals of Léonard
Kwekeu, Benjamin Moukandjo and Aurélien Chedjou, Denis Lavagne has just lost Somen
A Tchoyi, Benoît Assou-Ekotto, Gaétan Bong, Henri Bédimo and Nicolas Nkoulou.
Assou, Somen and Bong did not
make the trip to Morocco, while Nkoulou and Chedjou have to quickly head back
to their respective clubs.
Only Montpellier’s Henri Bédimo will
remain with the team, for a possible inclusion in the Morocco and Algeria
clashes.
Taking into account the unavailability
of Yaya Banana, who will be disputing the return leg of the CAF Champions
League final on Saturday with his club Espérance de Tunis against Wydad
Casablanca, the whole of the Lions’ defence will be seriously affected.
Faced with this deluge of
withdrawals, the French technician has called upon two young amateur players as
reinforcement, the defenders from Astres de Douala, Patrick Abouna Ndzana, and
Coton Sport, Ambroise Oyongo Bitolo.
It will therefore be a tricky
baptism of fire for Lavagne, whose mission it is to qualify the Lions for the Africa
Cup of Nations 2013 and the 2014 World Cup.
The former Coton Sport coach will
have to quickly take control of a team that is often subject to clan wars,
conflict amongst its key players and recently to real and diplomatic epidemics.
Cameroon oppose Morocco on
Sunday, before heading to Alger to do battle with the Fennecs on 15 November.
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