Cameroon could not make it from the first round of the World Cup 2010. The Indomitable Lions recorded three defeats in Group E. But behind the second match of the Cameroonian selection against Denmark is a rocky story. The players voted for the starting eleven leaving out the coach at the time, Paul Le Guen.
After 1990, Cameroon has not shone in a World Cup finals. Led by Roger Milla, the Indomitable Lions had managed to reach the quarterfinals and nothing more since then. For the following editions, the Cameroonians had to stop at the first round. With notably a fiasco in 2010, in South Africa. Cameroon had recorded three defeats in this edition, against Japan (0-1), Denmark (1-2) and 1-2 the Netherlands (1-2).
The coach at the time, Paul Le Guen, paid the price. Maligned by the Cameroonian and French press, the French coach resigned from his post as his choices against Denmark were vehemently criticized. But what is rather surprising is that the Frenchman was neither closely nor remotely involved in the choice of the starting eleven against the Danes. At least that's what Samuel Eto'o confided in the book "A Lion Among Men" by Pascal-Olivier Ouandji.
"Paul le Guen lost control of the dressing room and it was not even him who selected the players for the crucial match against Denmark,"
says the former Indomitable Lions captain.
Democratically elected starting 11
So who picked the starting line-up against the Vikings? Nobody but the players themselves. How did they do it? The current boss of Cameroonian soccer says:
"The night before the game, the players met in a hotel room and we debated all night. After many discussions, we decided to organize a vote and the eleven Cameroonian players who took to the field against Denmark were democratically elected by the team members.
Samuel Eto'o, The all and all
At that time, it was far from imagining that Samuel Eto'o would one day be the president of the Cameroon Football Federation. But he already had a great influence in the Cameroonian selection. As a proof, on the 23 Indomitable Lions present at the 2010 World Cup, Eto'o did everything to integrate some players in the team. But the story ended badly. He confesses: "I used all my influence so that some players participate in the World Cup, but later they are the ones who stabbed me in the back.
A victory in Qatar would do Samuel Eto'o a lot of good. The strong man of Cameroonian soccer already sees his team returning with the trophy. Coached by Rigobert Song, Cameroon will face Switzerland on November 24, Serbia on 28 and Brazil on December 2.
