He’s got 73 caps for Cameroon and fifteen years of playing in the Spanish top flight for Espanyol and Malaga. At 38 years old, you’d think that Idriss Carlos Kameni would be winding his goalkeeping career down at a top club, either playing or being an experienced backup for some promising youngster. But no. His career has taken a wild route in the past five years.Kameni is currently playing for EU Santa Coloma in Andorra, the tiny landlocked principality in Spain. How did he end up there?!Legendary Kameni reflects on his beginnings: “We would make a ball by wrapping papers in a plastic bag”🔴 OFFICIEL ! Idriss Carlos Kameni (38 ans) quitte Arta Solar 7 et s’engage pour une saison avec UE Santa Coloma, club de première division à Andorre. pic.twitter.com/zgUVd7X4aX— CFOOT (@cfootcameroun) September 1, 2022 He lives alone, without his family, who is still in Malaga. He doesn’t own a car there. He lives in a modest but adequate hotel, owned by one of the club’s managers, like most of the players in Andorra. What is clear is that he has not signed for the Santa Coloma for money. The club’s budget for the season is around $200,000, of which 75% goes to the first team, which has mostly local teenagers playing there. Kameni isn’t there to earn a million but to return to full fitness and try to win a place on the national team for the upcoming World Cup.”Last year, I went to Africa, to Djibouti. We won the double, but I didn’t feel that value, that weight I have carried throughout my career of competing for something big. It was tough because I missed facing top-level players. I had been in the elite for 15 years, playing every weekend and competing. In Djibouti, I played in the 35 degrees of heat on hard surfaces. I really wanted to return to Europe and find a way back to La Liga.”##NAJAVA_MECA_6691858##A bitter experience in Turkey with Fenerbahce made Idriss realize who his friends are. He was frozen out after a year in Istanbul, he wasn’t getting paid, and his future seemed insecure. He told Marca that he felt abandoned in Istanbul.”Since I was little I learned that nobody would gift me anything in life. And I also learned that people often do you a favour expecting something in return. The disappointment is huge when you expect help and have hope in others. You look at your phone and say, ‘I’m going to call him because he’s my friend and he’ll help me’, but you see that they don’t take your calls or answer your messages. That happened several times… You no longer contact anyone. You just hope that your hard work will be rewarded.”Rigobert Song on Fabrice Ondoa and Carlos Kameni:”We have an eye on Fabrice Ondoa and Carlos Kameni. André Onana is the number one, but the door remains open.”Kameni, aged 38, recently joined Santa Coloma in Andorra, while Fabrice Ondoa plays for FK Auda in Latvia. pic.twitter.com/wU6uOa7iqt— World Cup Qatar 2022 (@q2022wc) September 13, 2022 The Cameroonian is now back doing what he was doing as a young kid. Working, training, trying to prove himself again. Who knows, maybe a La Liga club is willing to add a bit of experience and fighting spirit to their ranks.LA LIGA – ROUND 7FridayAthletic Club – Almeria 4-0 (2-0)/Inaki Williams 10, Sanccet 17, Nico Williams 62, Vesga 84 pen/SaturdayCadiz – Villareal 0-0Getafe – Valladolid 2-3 (2-2)/Mayoral 29, Suzarez 31 – Leon 20 pen, 37, Plano 49/Sevilla – Atl.Madrid 0-2 (0-1)/Llorente 29, Morata 57/Mallorca – Barcelona 0-1 (0-1)/Lewandowski 20/Sunday15:00: (2.78) Espanyol (3.10) Valencia (2.75)17:15: (2.60) Celta (3.25) Betis (2.95)19:30: (3.35) Girona (3.20) Sociedad (2.45)22:00: (1.35) Real Madrid (5.50) Osasuna (9.50)Monday22:00: (1.84) Rayo Vallecano (3.60) Elche (5.20)***odds are subject to change***
