The Indomitable Lions, five-time African champions, fall to Senegal
The Lions of Teranga beat the Cameroon national team by 01 goal to 0 in a friendly match in Lens, France, counting for the Fifa period on October 16, 2023. The Senegal team took over Cameroon thanks to a penalty from Sadio Mané, conceded in the 32nd minute of play.
The leadership debate between the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Lions of Teranga seems to have been settled, following Senegal's victory, 0 goals against 01 against Cameroon. This meeting took place at the Racing Club stadium in Lens on October 16, 2023. A symbolic ground where several African players played in the early 2000s, including a certain Marc Vivien Foé. We can also cite in the same vein, Papa Bouba Diop, all former glories of the Racing club of Lens who are now deceased.
Cameroon versus Senegal: kick-off
Aron Diop, the son of the late Bouba Diop of Senegal kicked off the match alongside world football legend Roger Milla. At the end of the 90 minutes of play, Senegal took the upper hand over Cameroon 01 goal to 0 from the penalty spot. For Rigobert Song, coach and manager of the Cameroon national team, it was a question of testing the group: “the players showed what they can do. We lost but this match allowed me to have an idea of who will represent Cameroon at the 2023 Africa Cup in Ivory Coast. We suffered from Senegal's offensive play in the first half. But in the second half, we readjusted in order to compensate for the shortcomings,” Rigobert Song said in a post-match press conference.
For Alioum Cissé, the Senegal coach: “There is no such thing as a small match. We are in the preparations for the African Cup. We also did not have our entire workforce in place. We did with the players we had available, and we beat Cameroon”
Highlights of the Lions derby
During this meeting, both teams increased their attacks. Senegal was well above Cameroon. Sadio Mané's group demonstrated technicality, speed and won almost the majority of duels on all lines. On the Cameroonian side, we noted a lack of confidence and experience when it came to scoring opportunities. Besides, Bryan Beumo and Vincent Aboubacar must be biting their fingers for having failed several times against Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. All attempts on the Cameroonian side proved unsuccessful until the last whistle from the central official. The Lions coach manager justifies this poor performance by the unavailability of certain team executives, namely Nouhou Tolo, Choupo moting and Zambo Anguissa. Nouhou Tolo had a visa problem. Choupo Moting and Zambo Anguissa are injured. This situation forced coach Song to change the tactical scheme. He played central defender Jean Charles Castelleto in the right-back position. Despite this strategy which aimed to play high, Gonzalez makes a crucial error in central defense. Sadio Mané took advantage and opened the scoring in the 33rd minute from the penalty spot. The score remains the same until the final whistle.
The history of meetings between Cameroon and Senegal
This meeting is the 11th and marks the most recent chapter in the rich sporting history of the two nations. In 1963 in Dakar, the two teams met for the first time. The history of matches between the two nations consists of: 06 friendly matches, two matches counting for the qualifiers for the African Cups, 04 confrontations as part of the final stages of the African Cup in the 1990s; 1992; 2002 and 2017. The pinnacle of these meetings was Senegal's defeat against Cameroon in 2002 in the final of the African Cup of Nations. We still remember Senegal's failure against Cameroon in the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations in Gabon.
As a reminder, the last chapter of this rivalry was written on October 16, 2023 in France. The two teams will share the same group C for the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
Patrick DJON
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