Benji’s Men

When the final 2016 FIFA rankings were released in December, Cameroon was ranked 65th. Quite a low number for a country well known for producing great teams and great players like Rigobert Song, Roger Milla, Patrick M’Boma, and of course Samuel Eto’o. It’s quite a long list but these four will do for now. Cameroon’s poor ranking came after back to back group stage exits from the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups in South Africa and Brazil respectively. Not only that, the team did not look at all unified. Players were arguing amongst themselves while on the pitch, and something certainly had to change.

2016 saw a change in management. German coach, Volker Finke was let go and sixty-five year old Belgian, Hugo Broos was appointed as manager in February 2016. Broos, a defender during his playing days had a lot of success while playing for R.S.C. Anderlecht 1970-1983 and Club Brugge 1983-1988. He won three European trophies, three national championships and four Belgian Cups while at Anderlecht and 3 more domestic titles with Club Brugge. Broos retired in 1988 and went into management a year later.

The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations was the first major tournament for Hugo Broos to showcase what he’s been doing with the Cameroon national team. Cameroon had a pretty good record under Broos leading up to the tournament. They’d play 10 games, won 4, drawn 5 and the lone defeat came against Paul Pogba and France. The one noticeable change under Broos was Cameroon playing attacking football; players had the freedom to express themselves and enjoy the beautiful game.

The tournament was originally planned to be hosted by Libya, until Africa’s football federation, CAF, rescinded its hosting rights in August 2014 due to ongoing war in the country. Gabon then picked up the tab to host the tournament. The tournament was scheduled from January 14 – February 5th. On January 4th, Hugo Broos announced his final 23-man roster. To be honest, I did not know many of the players, and I’m someone who keeps up with the national team. A lot of the well-known players opted not to participate in the tournament for numerous reasons. Names like Christian Bassogog, Ernest Mabouka, Adolphe Teiku, Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui, and Collins Fai were all new to me. Benjamin “Benji” Moukandjo, however, a player I’m very familiar with was named captain.

Cameroon was paired up in Group A with Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, and host, Gabon. On January 14, Cameroon played its first group stage match against Burkina Faso. On minute 35, captain, Benji Moukandjo put Cameroon ahead with a superlative free kick from about 20 yards out. The stallions of Burkina Faso however equalized on minute 75 with a goal from Issoufou Dayo. The game ended 1-1. A 2-1 victory over Guinea-Bissau and a 0-0 draw against Gabon meant Cameroon would finish 2nd in the group behind Burkina Faso and both teams would move on to the quarter finals.

The quarter final saw Cameroon face tournament favorites, Senegal. It was a very tough game. 90 minutes couldn’t separate both sides and an additional 30 minutes couldn’t either. The game had to be decided on penalties. With the first four players of both sides converting from the penalty spot, Sadio Mane of Senegal had his penalty saved by Fabrice Ondoa. Vincent Aboubakar stepped up for Cameroon and scored. Cameroon was through to the semifinals.

The semifinal match up for Cameroon was Ghana. Ghana also finished 2nd in their group behind Egypt and beat DR Congo 2-1 in the quarter finals. It was a tight and evenly contested affair when the game started. On the 72nd minute with the score still 0-0, a free kick by Moukandjo found its way to defender, Michael Ngadeu, who calmly lifted his shot into the roof of the net for the goal. Ghana started committing more players forward and in last minute on the game, Aboubakar and Bassogog orchestrated a perfect counter attack which led to the 21-year old Bassogog scoring to make it 2-0. Into the final we went.

7 times African Cup of Nation winners Egypt had beaten Burkina Faso on penalties the day before Cameroon played Ghana and were waiting for us in the final. The location was the Stade de l’Amitie (Friendship Stadium) in Libreville, Gabon. Over thirty-eight thousand people were in attendance plus the millions watching at home. The ref blew his whistle and the 2017 African Cup of Nations final was underway. You could tell a lot of the Cameroon players were nervous because most of them were young and hadn’t been in such a position before. 22 minutes into the game and Cameroon went a goal down courtesy of Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny. To add salt to injury, tournament standout, Adolphe Teikeu had to leave the field due to injury. He was replaced by Nicolas N’Koulou; a fan favorite and one of the older players in Bross’s squad. The score remained the same until halftime. Aboubakar replaced Robert Tambe in the striker position as the 2nd half resumed. In the 59th minute, a cross from Moukandjo found the head of N’Koulou and the game was tied. The score remained unchanged until the 88th minute when a long pass from Sebastian Siani found Vincent Aboubakar who took one touch to control, the next to set himself up and the third to score arguably the best goal of the entire tournament. It was an “extraordinary goal” as the commentators described. It was goal to win the tournament.

What a moment it was for everyone associated with the team. This was Cameroon’s fifth continental title and the first since 2002. Benjamin Moukandjo, a very shy and quiet individual who effectively led this young and new Cameroon team stepped up, alongside Nicolas N’Koulou to lift the trophy.

Christian Bassogog was named best player of the tournament while Fabrice Ondoa, Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui, and Benjamin Moukandjo were in the team of tournament alongside Bassogog. Nobody expected much from Cameroon prior to the tournament.  Two poor performances at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups made a lot of people lower their expectations. Hugo Broos brought in fresh players with a lot of attacking abilities and these players did not disappoint. Broos said, “Over the weeks we went from being a squad to becoming a family. It’s unbelievable what all the guys did. It is tremendous.”

Moukandjo, a player who I’ve loved since his days at Monaco was outstanding throughout. Scoring the first goal of the tournament for Cameroon and setting up goals for his teammates the rest of the way. He got the party started and was deservedly named man of the match in the final. Moukandjo was quoted saying, “We have a group that lives together, we have solidarity, and we are a family. The fact there’s no one who values himself over the others (has underpinned our success), we’re equals.” I couldn’t be happier for him.

The 2019 African Cup of Nations will be held in Cameroon. I don’t know what will happen then, but for now, we’ll simply enjoy what Benji’s men did in Gabon.

 

Until next time,

 

Boy D’Jine