Lions must keep faith - Mbia

Cameroon midfielder Stephane Mbia has urged the Indomitable Lions to remain positive, despite their early exit at the Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday night.

Cameroon crashed out of the continental showpiece following their 1-0 defeat in the hands of fierce rivals Ivory Coast as Max Gradel's wonder strike was all that was needed to secure the Elephants their place in the quarter-finals.

However, Mbia, who missed the opening game for his side against Mali (1-1) due to a red received in the final round of qualifying - against the same Ivorian team - has credited the Elephants for their qualification, but urged the Cameroon team to be optimistic.

"We need to remain positive,” said the Sevilla midfielder. "We gave everything on the pitch but it is a disappointment we didn't qualify.

"The team is very young and the best is still to come. We faced them in the qualifiers but here the context was different.

"We must be fair-play, they deserved it, they went through - good luck to Cote d'Ivoire.

"We need to be realistic, the most important now is to prepare for the future competitions."