Is Cameroon football dying under Eto’o?.

Since the election of the football icon as president of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, on December 11, 2021, the contrast in the results with that of his predecessors is like a lighted candle in the dark. 

The coming of Eto’o, whom many had considered ‘the saviour of the country’s most beloved sport’, at the helm of FECAFOOT, was supposed to usher a new dawn. 

But more than a year into office, Cameroon’s football fortunes have been dwindling at lightening speed. 

There is probably the need to unearth new superlatives to describe the sterile performances of the various selections of the Cameroon national football team in international competitions. 

Although Eto’o has introduced a wave of reforms and pumped in finances into the sport since he took over as the country’s FA boss, fans have nonetheless been frequently inconsolable and embarrassed over the performances of their national teams. 

Questions have been asked how a footballing powerhouse like Cameroon, could be starved of success in most, if not all of its national teams within only a year. 

All selections have been affected. The men and women’s senior teams, the inferior selections; the U20 & U23 men, U17 women and CHAN squads have all suffered from the same fate. 

Most recently, the U17 Lions, who are defending champions in their category in Africa, lost 0-2 to Mali in their opening fixture of the 2023 AFCON tournament currently taking place in Algeria. 

The Baby Lions are on the brink of a group stage exit if they fail to win their final group game against Burkina Faso. 

Inconsistency of senior national team 

The Indomitable Lions for instance, were one of the most dominant national teams in Africa. 

They are the second most successful national team on the continent with five Africa Cup of Nations crowns. Only Egypt has won more trophies than them (seven). 

Today, they have fallen from Africa’s elite footballing nations, courtesy of a string of poor performances and humiliating defeats to little-known countries. 

The chances of Cameroon to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, currently lies in the balance, after a shocking 1-2 defeat to Namibia. 

This was during the fourth day of play of the 2023 AFCON qualifiers. Before the defeat, they were held to a 1-1 draw in Yaounde. 

The boys of Coach Rigobert Song are left with no margin of errors in their final game against Burundi in Yaounde. 

They must win their final group game in September to secure qualification for next year’s AFCON. 

In case the Lions fail to secure a ticket for the continental football event, it will be the first time since 2013 that they won’t be featuring in the tournament. 

During their last participation, when Cameroon hosted the continent’s most prestigious sporting event early last year, they finished third. 

Cameroon also failed to reach the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite finishing two points behind Brazil and Switzerland on six points. 

Indomitable Lionesses slump continues 

The struggles remain the same with the senior women’s national football team. 

The Indomitable Lionesses have fallen from their once great heights after failing to secure direct qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

They lost to eternal rivals, Nigeria in the quarter-final of last year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, WAFCON. 

It was the first time since 2000 that they failed to reach the last four of the tournament.

Although their chances of progressing were reignited when they qualified for the Inter-continental playoffs, their fate was finally sealed when they lost to Portugal in February in a make-or-break-encounter. 

Cameroon will be missing out from the 2023 Women’s World Cup after successive appearances in 2015 and 2019.  They reached the round of 16 on both occasions. 

Intermediate Lions stumble at CHAN in Algeria 

The home-based national team, known as Intermediate Lions of Cameroon, have not been any better under Eto’o’s management.

Upon taking office, Eto’o made changes at the helm of various national selections.

Former Lions forward, Saidou Alioum, was named head coach of the Intermediate Lions. 

The team in its first tournament under Saidou, got a shocking first round exit during the 2023 African Nations Championship, CHAN in Algeria.

The elimination of the home-based Lions at the group stage was even more frustrating because the team had finished among the top four when Cameroon hosted the 2020 edition.

Cameroon finished as second-placed in the three-team Group E with one win and a defeat. 

Their elimination signalled a step backward instead of a progression. When they hosted the tournament, they finished fourth. 

Cameroon’s exit also extended their wait of winning their maiden title after several attempts. 

U20 Lions miss out 2023 AFCON

Another national selection which failed to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which held in Egypt from February 18 to March 12, is the U20 Lions. 

They competed in the UNIFFAC qualifying tournament but failed to finish among the top two teams of the tournament. 

This was after they picked up two successive 1-1 draws against Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo and lost 0-1 in their final game at the four-nation tournament in December 2022. 

The pill was even more difficult to swallow because Cameroon was denied an AFCON spot in the U20 category by little-known and war-torn Central African Republic, who have very little to show for in terms of football.

U23 selection fails to qualify for AFCON 

In March this year, the Under-23 men’s national football team of Cameroon on their part failed to qualify for the 2023 AFCON after losing to Gabon in Yaounde 6-7 on penalty. 

The exhilarating fixture was forced to the dreaded shootout session after both teams could not be separated following a 1-1 stalemate. 

Gabon triumphed over their fellow Central African rivals converting four of their kicks against three for Cameroon at the Ahmadou Ahidjou Stadium on March 25. 

The defeat was a bitter pill for the team to swallow as they were denied their second appearance at the U23 AFCON finals. They featured only once in 2019 when they were knocked out in the group stages. 

Their exit also means they will not be taking part at the Olympic Games in Paris, France next year. 

Under-17 women’s team misses out from World Cup 

The Under-17 women’s team of Cameroon missed out from last year’s World Cup in Chile. 

They failed to seal their place after losing to Tanzania 5-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers for the global football jamboree. 

The Cameroonian team had a mountain to climb after losing 1-4 in the first leg to Tanzania. 

They failed to overturn the deficit in the second leg as the East African nation edged then 1-0 to earn a historic qualification. 

Results of compensating friends?

The poor results of the various national teams have been blamed on what some football pundits say is the inability of those appointed at the helm of these teams to do their job well.

Eto’o reshuffled the technical staff of almost all the national teams when he took over the pieces at FECAFOOT. 

However, a section of football lovers in Cameroon argue that some of those appointed are Eto’os friends whom he is trying to compensate, reason none of them have produced any results worth the taste. Some of the trainers are said not to have the required coaching training and experience. 

There are also accusations of some coaches of the national teams allegedly going for mediocre players in order to get kickbacks. Allegations The Guardian Post Sports can’t independently confirm.

Misfortunes at club level  

The heartbreak was also felt with Cameroon’s representative in the CAF Champions League. Coton Sport of Garoua was knocked out of the competition without recording a single point. 

The 17-time Elite One champions lost all their six group encounters to South Africa’s Mamelodie Sundowns, Al Ahly of Egypt and Sudanese giants Al Hilal. 

Upsurge of violence in professional league matches

Samuel Eto’o may have succeeded in bringing fans back to stadium for the professional league but there is a disturbing upsurge of violence in stadiums, never seen in the country in recent times, especially during Elite Two matches.

There have been accusations of FECAFOOT favouring some clubs against others, while referees are also accused of being bribed by club officials to influence the outcome of games.

All of these have led to some fans making referees their punching bags as they even go to the extent of assaulting them on match-days when they suspect them of match-fixing. 

Several referees have been their victims. Most of them sustain life-threatening injuries which put their career in jeopardy.

FECAFOOT has always come out to condemn and issue sanctions to such unruly behaviours.

Finding solutions

In the midst of the disturbing performances of the national selections, Samuel Eto’o Fils had convened a meeting of the head coaches of the various national selections in Yaounde at the end of March 2023. 

Heated discussions are said to have taken place but the resolutions arrived at the meeting were never made public.

Even with the meeting, which was aimed at seeing the various coaches exchange notes, nothing seems to be changing as the results of the national teams are not improving as days go by.