The Indomitable Lions Malaise Continues

The absence of 11 of the 21 players called up for the friendly encounter against Tanzania on February 6th, has cast doubts on the reconstruction effort of the national football team. The age-old problems of indiscipline, amateurish organisation and simmering differences among some players and officials, have once more raised their ugly heads.

For players to declare injury but without reporting to the medical staff of the national team for their injury to be assessed is sheer disrespect. Despite the appointment of a former footballer as team manager, there was a lot of cacophony in the travel arrangements for players to Dar Es Salam with some players unable to get their flight tickets, others having different itineraries though departing from the same point and having a common destination. While others yet had a very long flight route.

At a time fans of the Indomitable Lions thought serenity had returned to the squad, with the return of Samuel Eto'o and acolytes, the differences among some players and officials has once more surfaced. Many sparring partners requested the participation of Samuel Eto'o and turned down their offers when Fecafoot could heed to this clause. This demonstrates that the conflict between Eto'o and Fecafoot is not yet over. Neither has the hatchet been buried between Eto'o and some key players of the squad as they still manifest their animosity towards him.

To continue with this trend of thing will be putting new wine in an old bottle. The 0-1 defeat to Tanzania is an eye opener and it is imperative for order to be restored before the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup resume or else Cameroon risks failing to qualify for the World Cup as has been the case during the past two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations.