Cameroon's first game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers was a solid one. The Indomitable Lions, away in Burundi, won 1-0. A very dismal performances from the five time African Champions. One that could not go unnoticed by millions of Cameroonians who followed the game on the National Broadcaster CRTV Sports and Entertainment on Thursday afternoon. On the scale of African football, there was clearly no match between the two teams yet the game's result goes to wipe away the impression that there are smaller nations in African football.
Cameroon dominated early exchanges as the scripts will suggest but getting the ball behind the net was not coming easily. It took the Lions 30 mins into the game for Lyon's Toko Ekambi to deliver a brilliant freekick when Aboubakar was fouled just outside the penalty box. They maintained their lead till the break.
The second half kicked off with the Lions still mounting chances but misses from Aboubakar who headed a cross wide from close range spelled it all for Cameroon. Burundi created just two chances in the entire game but grew in confidence in the second half as they rallied support from their visiting fans and Tanzanians who showed up for the game.
At fulltime the Lions won but the President of the Cameroon Football Federation Samuel Eto'o was visibly angered by the poor performance of his national team. A post match message from Eto'o in the Lion's dressing room has gone viral.
📹 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: 🇧🇮 0-1 🇨🇲
𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐨 𝐄𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢’𝐬 effort seals the victory for the Indomitable Lions against Burundi in the #TotalEnergiesAFCONQ2023! 🦁@FecafootOfficie pic.twitter.com/JOuTJheOqw
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 9, 2022
With this victory, Cameroon takes the lead in Group C, which has only three teams. Burundi and Namibia follow with 1 point each. Kenya has been disqualified.
