Indomitable Lions
African powerhouse Cameroon is looking to impress when they host Mauritania in a 2017 Group M Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match in Yaounde on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 4:00pm.
The four-time Afcon champions are looking to turn around their poor showings of late which have seen them unable to qualify for the continental tournament in 2012 and 2013, and then suffer a first round exit in the 2015 tourney.
Indomitable Lions coach Volker Finke, though, has a tough task ahead of him with a number of key players missing from his squad for this opening qualifying match against Mauritania.
Volker has to do without the likes of Schalke players Joël Matip and Eric Choupo-Moting, goalkeeper Pierre Sylvain Abogo and left-back Ambroise Oyongo Bitolo.
Finke, however, has injected new blood into the side hoping to breathe new life into the side in the form of FC Sochaux’s 22-year-old striker Karl Toko Ekambi, Paris Saint-Germain’s 17-year-old midfielder Félix Eboa Eboa and FC Cluj’s 22-year-old striker Justin Mengolo.
Cameroon will also be coming into this match high in confidence after beating Burkina Faso 3-2 and drawing 1-1 with DR Congo in the build-up to this match.
Mauritania, on the other hand, are minnows on the African continent and will be looking to cause an upset against Cameroon.
Coached by Corentin Martins, Mauritania have never reach the continental tournament, but their mentor is confident they can cause a few upsets.
“We need to keep faith, even if we are here to learn at the highest level. We are going to give our best to seal this qualification,” Martins is quoted as saying.
The other two teams in Group M are South Africa and Gambia who face each other on Saturday in Durban.
