As is so often the case, Cameroon goes into the Africa Cup as one of the favorites. But the huge fuss surrounding association boss Samuel Eto’o has left its mark.
Samuel Eto’o has experienced a lot in his successful playing career – but the chaos of the past few days must have left its mark on the former world-class striker with the cool finish: two coaches, two squads, a sporting crisis – and Eto’o as association president right in the middle of it all.
Before Cameroon’s start at the Africa Cup of Nations on Christmas Eve, things were going haywire in the proud football nation. New coach David Pagou and his team absolutely need a win against star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabon – in order to at least provide a little peace after crazy weeks.
But first things first: The farce actually started quite typical of the industry. The team had achieved the feat of only losing two of the 17 games during the tenure of Belgian coach Marc Brys and still missed the ninth World Cup qualification in the association’s history. Eto’o pulled the ripcord, kicked Brys out the door and made the internationally unknown Pagou the coach instead. So far, so unusual.
But Brys, who hadn’t had a good relationship with Eto’o from the start, didn’t let that go. His argument: He was appointed head coach by the Ministry of Sports in spring 2024 – and not by the association. So he couldn’t be fired by Eto’o, whom he also described as “narcissistic”.
As long as there is “no signed document” from the political ranks declaring Pagou as coach, Brys said on the French channel “TV5 Monde”, “I, Marc Brys, will remain coach.” We spoke up and quickly named our own 28-man squad. Like Eto’o’s husband Pagou before him.
It is now clear: the association president has prevailed. Pagou’s squad is now preparing for the tournament in Agadir. But this is by no means uncontroversial. There are stars like Bryan Mbeumo from Manchester United and Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane; However, unlike the “shadow squad” of the “shadow coach” Brys, the prominent goalkeeper André Onana and attacker Vincent Aboubakar are missing.
“They are good players, but we focused on others to create a different mentality,” Pagou said. Regarding Aboubakar’s non-nomination, there were also rumors that Eto’o had supported it for a specific reason. The 44-year-old is the country’s record goalscorer with 56 international goals – Aboubakar (33) has eleven fewer, but theoretically still has a few years to catch up with the figurehead.
This probably cannot be clarified conclusively. And yet the story makes it clear that Eto’o is not without controversy in the country. His “reign” to date has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption, internal disputes and a six-month stadium ban by FIFA for offensive behavior.
Sporting success would also be a blessing for Eto’o personally. Despite all the background noise, the preliminary round should be manageable for the “untameable lions”. In addition to the inconsistent Gaboneses, there is also a duel with Mozambique, who are still winless in Africa Cup history – only defending champions Ivory Coast have a world-class team in the group.