The Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions), is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is continent’s most successful AFCON side
They have also won 4 Africa Cup of Nations-only Egypt with seven wins, have won the competition more times.
Brief history
Cameroon first qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 1972, and went up to the semifinals.They also made it to 1970 edition but they did not pass the group stages.
They would not qualify for the competition for another Afcon until 1984 and this time is when Indomitable Lions’ first trophy success came , when they beat Nigeria 3-1 in the final in the Ivory Coast.
They came again in 1986 edition and this time Cameroon lost out on penalties to hosts Egypt, but made amends at the next edition of the tournament by beating Nigeria 1-0 in the final, which took place in Morocco.
The West Africans also finished in second position in 2008, again losing to Egypt, this time in Ghana.
Recent AFCON history for the Indomitable Lions does not however make for very good reading as they have not been able to qualify for the last two editions of the competition after having only made it as far as the quarter-finals in 2010.
2017 Afcon players boycott
The Indomitable Lions team was hit by the decision of a number of first team players announcing their unavailability for 2017 Afcon selection.
With a little more than a week to the tournament, a total of eight players had opted out. But the Belgian went ahead to name his squad as he leads the team to vie for a fifth AFCON crown.
Joel Matip of Liverpool is one of the seven who told coach Hugo Broos they are not interested in being selected for the tournament in Gabon, which starts on Jan. 14.
The other six are Andre Onana (Ajax Amsterdam), Guy Roland Ndy Assembe (Nancy), Allan Nyom (West Bromwich Albion), Maxime Poundje (Girondins Bordeaux), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Olympique Marseille) and Ibrahim Amadou (Lille).
All seven had late last month been named in a preliminary list of 35 for the tournament, where Cameroon are drawn in Group A with the hosts, Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau.
Matip did not want to play for Cameroon for the moment because of a “bad experience” with the previous coaching staff.
The German-born defender has not featured for Cameroon since the World Cup in Brazil but Broos, who took over in February, has twice been to see him to try and persuade him to return to the side.
For Allan Nyom he told Broos that he wanted to stay at West Bromwich Albion to keep his place in the team, a sentiment shared by Amadou, Ndy Assembe, Onana and Zambo Anguissa.
Poundje, uncapped by Cameroon, said he preferred to concentrate on setting his sights on playing for France.
However, Cameoon has not ran short of talent with quality players now having been selected to participate in the biggest football event in Africa.
2017 Afcon qualification
In Cameroon’s 2017 Afcon qualifying campaign, the team was grouped with South Africa, Gambia, and the Mauritania national football teams.
After a slow start in their campaign, with a shocking draw to South Africa both home and away, the third fixture caused an uprise in Cameroon’s spirits as they got a win against Mauritania, followed by another win against The Scorpions of Gambia in Yaounde
Both results caused Cameroon to qualify for the 2017 Afcon in Gabon.
Key players:
Fai Collins (Standard Liege). Age: 24. Defender.
Fai has had a distinguished career with Standard Lidge and has been one of the best defender for the national team.
Jacques Zoua (Kaiserslautern). Age: 26. Striker.
Zoua is the driving force for Cameroon having come from the youth structures in the national team.With 3 goals in nine appearances initially made his name at Kaiserslautern.
Vincent Aboubakar (Besiktas ). Age: 24. Forward
Scorer of important goals for his country, he has spent his entire professional career in French soccer and is a dangerman up front.
Prospects: Cameroon have a good chance of bettering their last-eight finish in 2010. They were a side in transition but now have a balanced team with exciting new prospects such as Vincent Aboubakar and Clinton Njie.
2017 Afcon squad:
Goalkeepers: Fabrice Ondoa (FC Séville, Spain), Jules Goda (AC Ajaccio, France), Georges Mbokwe (Coton Sport de Garoua).
Défenders: Nicolas Nkoulou (Lyon, France), Ambroise Oyongo (Impact Montréal, Canada), Mohamed Djeitei (Nastic Tarragone, Spain), Fai Collins (Standard Liège, Belgium, Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui (Slavia Prague, Check Républic), Adolphe Teikeu (Sochaux, France), Jonathan Ngwem (FC Progresso, Angola), Ernest Mabouka (MSK Zilina, Slovakia)
Midfielders: Sébastien Siani (Ostende, Belgium), Georges Mandjeck (Metz, France), Arnaud Djoum (Heart of Midlothian, Scotland), Franck Boya (Apejes)
Attackers: Vincent Aboubakar (Besiktas, Turkey), Benjamin Moukandjo (Lorient, France), Jacques Zoua (Kaiserslautern, Germany), Edgar Salli (Saint-Gall, France), Karl Toko-Ekambi (Angers, France), Clinton Njie (Marseille, France), Robert Ndip Tambe (Spartak Trnava, Slovakia), Christian Bassogog (Aalborg, Denmark).
