Kenya took on African footballing powerhouse Cameroon at the Stade Ommisport de Douala in Douala. The tie was a Group J round 3 fixture for African Cup of Nations qualifications.In this tactical analysis piece, we set out to understand how the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon trumped Kenya 4-1. Dissecting the game plan from both sides.Cameroon set up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, which was ideally their out-of-possession base formation. Andre Onana was in goal. Towering Beijing Gouan centre-back, the experienced Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui, partnered with Rennes stalwart Christopher Wooh in central defence. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8405476##Jackson Tchatchoua played right back with Nohou Tolou at left back. Brighton & Hove Albion midfield lynchpin Carlos Baleba was the sole holding midfielder. The advanced midfield positions were tasked to Andre-Zambo Anguissa and Granada man Martin Hongla. Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Bassogog were the wingers, with captain Vincent Aboubakar leading the hunt for goals.Coach Engin Firat set out Kenya in a 1-4-4-2 formation, Patrick Matasi was in goal, Eric Ouma and Amos Nondi were the fullbacks, with Sylvestre Owino and Daniel Anyembe the central defensive pairing, raising eyebrows to the omission of Joseph Okumu, who was rumoured to be nursing a groin injury. Richard Odada and Anthony Akumu were the central midfield pairing as Duke Abuya and Rooney Onyango patrolled the flanks. Timothy Ouma and Michael Olunga were the front two.Harambee Stars head coach admits boisterous Cameroon fans played part in defeatKenya seemed to have a game plan to neutralize the threat posed by Coach Marc Brys’s side, who in his post-match interview had lamented that Kenya had travelled with nine central defenders, but in his words, he came with “4 of the best attackers in the world.”Coach Firat’s game plan was to play in a 4-4-2 midblock. The first line of pressure would be on the level of Carlos Baleba, looking to force him to play back or to the side and avoid central penetration. However, in the famous words of Mike Tyson, ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” and Kenya’s proverbial ‘punch in the mouth came in the 6th minute when Cameroon winger Bassogog managed to create separation from his man Nondi and a cutback saw a Mbeumo shot judged to be deflected wide by an Ouma penalty that was duly slotted home past Matasi by Abubakar.##NAJAVA_MECA_8409448##This early goal showed what was Cameroon’s game plan. In the build-up phase, Cameroon looked to build up in a 2-1-3-4 formation. The centre-backs split each side of Onana, who could come in between them to act as the extra player in the build-up. The main progressor from the build-up was Baleba, as the fullbacks pushed slightly higher to play on the same line as Hongla, who looked to play behind the first line of pressure. They then wanted to go man for man against the Kenyan backline from build-up. Well aware of the aerial prowess in the central defensive areas, the main areas of target were the wide areas. Here, the role of Zambo Anguissa was very key, as he was always their spare man in possession. Bassogog’s masterclass leaves big dent on Harambee Stars’ dream for AFCON 2025He looked to attach to the centre back, especially the right centre back, then drop deeper if Anyembe did not follow him and there was no communication with Richard Odada on switching markers, hence a dilemma on that side as in the midfield there was always a 3v2 numerical superiority. In buildup, Cameroon did not go directly in behind from the defence, as they knew Kenya would be ready for the balls in behind and their line would drop well, also noting the height in defence. To counter this, they looked to play the ball through midfield and then from central areas. when they had dragged Kenya’s line of confrontation higher, they would go in behind or play to the wingers in isolated 1v1 situations.Here the wingers, especially Bassogog, would look to hit the byline and cross or attempt. Something Kenya did not seem to have an answer for. On the right-hand side, they looked to penetrate with the diagonal run from Anguissa and or Honglain the halfspace. The simple but effective approach of going through, back then over or in behind was the gameplan the Cameroonians had, and conceding early did not help Kenya’s chances. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8405838##The gravitation to the left caused Kenya to concede the second goal, a shot from the edge of the box as some neat combinations down that side and room for Hongla to strike saw the goal go in past a poorly positioned Matasi.Kenya seemed to get back in the game through a set-piece; A good delivery from Ouma saw Olunga nod the ball home, this looked like Cameroon’s main undoing and issue, defending cross balls, as they did not even have the second ball; thus, the need to push Ouma higher would have maybe hurt them more.Cameroon, however, landed an immediate sucker punch with another ball into the left-hand side that saw Bassogog beat his man for pace again and cross to the blindside for a tap-in from Mbeumo.From there it was all Cameroon, who looked to control the ball, adding some flicks and tricks for their adoring fans. In the second half, Coach Firat made some changes that made Kenya again slightly resolute, bringing on assistant captain Joseph Okumu and pushing to the right Daniel Anyembe, sacrificing Amos Nondi, who will long remember that first half. Another interesting switch was pushing Duke Abuya higher next to Olunga with Timothy Ouma going wide.The ruthlessness of the Cameroonians was on show when a transition scenario saw Bassogog play In behind to slot home past a hapless Matasi.PLAYER RATINGS: Cameroon v Kenya – Harambee Stars’ fail to impress against Africa’s giantKenya will retreat to lick its wounds as it prepares to face Cameroon again in Kampala for the return leg. In a game where Cameroon came out top in all forms of superiority, numerical, especially in midfield, Coach Firat will likely be hard on his wingers to come inside more and help. Qualitative superiority, where the wide and attacking players had the beating of their men all day. Positional Superiority, their game plan was on point. It will be interesting to see how Kenya reacts.
