This was thanks to Hull city’s attacker Cousin who pushed the ball through goalkeeper Kameni’s net at the 17th minute after mesmerizing a smilingly poor Cameroon defense line.
A defense manned by former captain R. Song, N. Nkoulou, H. Bedimo and G. Njitap could not be indomitable enough, as all through the match they remain porous despite Cameroon having most of the ball possession. Despite the lions several attempts to control the game, their Gabonese counterparts kept imposing their slow style of play on the Lions thereby disrupting all attempts for the lions to find the back of their net.
This shocking defeat that followed a series of other surprise scores at the tournament has left many question marks within the lions’ den. Some football pundits before this match had already been doubting the competence, energy and resistance of R. Song over that of Totenham’s master defender Bassong. Some say the Cameroon football syndrome has fast gotten its grip on Le Guen too, whom they blame for preferring aging R. Song over favorite Bassong.
Despite the pains this defeat has brought to this football loving nation, just two things could keep the fans optimistic. First is that this is not yet South Africa 2010, which means they can correct their errors before then. Secondly, their faith in the competition is still to be decided as they are still to face Tunisia and Zambia.
All hopes are not yet lost, as every true lion fan can testify that, the lions are always best when playing with their backs at the wall. Playing with their backs on the wall is what they are going to do again next Sunday the 17th of January against the Chipolopolo of Zambia.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed and see how Le Guen will come out of Group D. After all, we can still consul ourselves that we are not the only heavy weight in the tournament who failed to claim a victory in the opening game. Nigeria loosed to Egypt, Algeria to little known Malawi, while D. Drogba’s Cote D’Ivoir are still to find the back of the net after playing with B. Faso, and Angola playing in front of their president, could not hold a four zero lead till the end, as they conceived four goals in the last fifteen minutes. Lots of surprises, isn’t it?