Rigobert Song has made strong choices to establish his list for the two friendly matches that await Cameroon on September 23 and 27, respectively against Uzbekistan and South Korea. While key players like Zambo Anguissa, Michaël Ngadeu and Choupo-Moting have been dropped, the coach has brought back two 2017 African champions: Georges Mandjeck and Nicolas Nkoulou.
Sport News Africa: What justifies the absence of Zambo Anguissa, Michaël Ngadeu and Choupo-Moting?
Rigobert Song: In the statistics, Michaël Ngadeu and Zambo Anguissa are the most used players of the moment. Whether in the national team or at club level. They are the leaders of the team. I do not need to see them anymore. They are part of the team. I need to see new players to complete the squad. Zambo Anguissa is part of the team. We hope to have him in November.
We are going to a competition where we will have great ambitions. It will not be just a match. We are trying to find players who could compensate for bad surprises. We need players capable of holding on if one of these two players should have a problem one day.
Maxim Choupo-Moting is coming out of an injury. He has recently resumed. He played 15 minutes last weekend. We know him too. He is one of the leaders of the team. Like Michaël Ngadeu and Zambo Anguissa, we are resting him for a while, so we can see new players. We need warriors.
SNA: You have left some of the cadres to recall two old ones, notably Nicolas Nkoulou and Mandjeck. What has changed?
Rigobert Song: In soccer, we talk about experience and background. And I think that Georges Mandjeck and Nicolas Nkoulou have the experience we need. They are Cameroonian, they are active. I think we must give the chance to all those who can bring something to our team. Then we will see if they can be part of the group that will go to the World Cup in Qatar. I think it is possible.
By deciding to open the door to these players who had not been selected for 2 or 4 years, we expected to see also the return of the goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa who made excellent performances this season with his club ...
Fabrice Ondoa is one of the goalkeepers we follow. But at some point, we must take some responsibility. And it's not just the World Cup. André Onana is the number one. That does not prevent us from calling up other goalkeepers. The door is open. But as for our list, the choices have been made. We bet on the group life. The group must not be disturbed.
As soon as you were appointed, you launched a campaign to seduce binational players . What about the cases of Evan Ndicka and Dina Ebimbé from Frankfurt or Sacha Boey from Galatasaray?
We have contacted all these players. But we are still in a hurry. We were appointed a few months ago. Some players still have administrative problems. We can't wait. We have already discussed several times with Sacha Boey for example. Each time, we are asked to wait. We don't have enough time. We can't wait forever. We need everyone, but today, we do with those who are available. For the rest, the door is open.
