Cameroon fans cautiously upbeat as Indomitable Lions face Super Eagles

Cameroon will face Nigeria today in a highly anticipated round of 16 match. 

The match will be held at the Felix Houphouet -Boigny Stadium in Abidjan where the Indomitable Lions defeated the Super Eagles some 40 years ago to lift their first-ever continental crown in 1984.

Cameroon won the first three of their five Afcon titles by defeating Nigeria at the final in 1984, 1998 and 2000.

The Super Eagles knocked out the Indomitable Lions at the round of 16 in 2019 in Egypt.

Eager fans of the Indomitable Lions here are of the opinion their darling team will rewrite history and triumph over the Super Eagles. 

Peter Nkemechi says the match will be easy for Cameroon.

“I cannot call it a crucial match because we will win with at least three goals as we won the last (group) match,” Nkemechi who runs a retail provision store at the Melen neighbourhood in Yaounde said.

Apart from statutory bonuses, including $56,000 each for participation, the Cameroon government had not announced any special incentives to the team.

Godlove Nfor, a land Surveyor said the performance of the Indomitable Lions has not been impressive.

“The two teams will give us a good and entertaining game because their performance at the group stages has been almost the same,” said Nfor who is also a veteran football player in Yaounde.

Cameroon drew 1-1 with Guinea, lost to 1-3 to Senegal, but advanced to the knock-out stage after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Gambia in their last Group ‘C’ match in Bouake. The Indomitable Lions came back from 2-1 lead with just five minutes to the end of the game to win. Nigeria on their part sailed through the group stages unbeaten; finishing Group ‘A’ runners-up behind Equatorial Guinea who they drew 1-1 with in their opening game.

“When you look at the five goals we scored at the group stages, you see that two have been scored by defenders and one is an own goal. This means our midfield and attack have a problem… the midfield has not been helping the centre-forward with passes,” Nfor said. 

The situation has however not been better with the Super Eagles of Nigeria who scored just three goals in the group stages, and conceded one.

“It is same with Nigeria. Victor Osimhen who is Africa’s best player has managed to score just one goal and one of their three goals too was own goal. That tells you that the attack line of the Super Eagles too is not very strong,” Nfor noted.

Hilton Ali is relaxed in the knowledge that the attack line of the Super Eagles has not been very productive.