Five-time African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon came up against lower ranked Namibia in an AFCON qualifier group C match.To many this was where the mighty Cameroon would get their groove back and stamp their authority in the African games. However, Namibia coach Winston Benjamin had a tactical ace up his sleeve that would look to push the Namibian’s into first place in the group and secure qualification to the 2024 January extravaganza.The teams met at the Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto, South Africa. Cameroon headed into the match off a shaky encounter against the Namibians in the first leg, drawing 1-1 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where the Indomitable Lions had to claw back from a goal down to salvage a point at home.Firat pleads for patience as Harambee Stars return to actionThe Cameroonians last competitive win had come against Brazil in the World Cup and this looked like the perfect set up to make the continent sit up and take note of the big boys.Coached by Rigobert Song, the football enthusiasts and stakeholders in the country had started to pile pressure on the head coach and decorated former captain of the Cameroonian national team, with most pundits blaming the team’s structural flaws on his inability to form a cohesive unit and his poor handling of top goalkeeper Andre Onana, who in a bust up with the coach exited the national team through early retirement.In this piece we look at how a disjointed and structurally flawed Cameroon side succumbed to a well-oiled and tactically discipline Namibian side. Song set his charges up in a contemporary 1-4-4-2 formation. In goal he went for Devis Epassy, an area of great contention back home, the fullback positions were occupied by Thomas Etta and experienced utility man Nouhou Otto. The trusted center back pairing of Jean Charles Casteletto and Nicolas Nkolou was called upon to silence Namibian danger man Peter Shalulile who is the country’s top scorer and South African giants Mamelodi Sundown’s main man. In midfield, the double pivot consisted of Bochum lynchpin Pierre Kunde and Napoli ace Zambo-Anguissa while the wide positions were taken up by Nicolas Ngamaleu and Igantius Ganago.Collins Sichenje linked with loan move to FinlandThe men tasked with getting goals for the team were Nicolas Ngamaleu and Le Selecao slayer Vincent Aboubakar. Namibia set up in a 1-4-4-2 formation also with heavy emphasis on not losing structure, quick forward play into the channels and aggression in duels.In the attacking phase, Cameroon looked to bait Namibia with a false build-up structure when their goalkeeper had the ball, when the opposition bit at this bait, they would send the ball long and look to duel for the second balls, an area which they heavily underperformed in as Namibia were well prepared for the duels, looking to be very aggressive with their midfield pivot of Dynamo Fredericks and Ngero Katua who did not allow Zambo a sniff of play.They stifled all his forays between the lines and their positioning on second balls was impeccable. In settled play, Cameroon looked to circulate the ball in a 1-2-4-4 shape with Pierre Kunde dropping to help ball progression in the first phase while the fullbacks looked to play on the same line as him.In this phase, Song’s men would then look to circulate the ball wide. Due to the Namibian block denying any central penetration, the team had to go long and this brings us to the creation phase.##NAJAVA_MECA_7138357##In the creation phase, Cameroon looked to hit the ball into the channels and then look to cross the ball into the box, where they can pack the box with the two strikers and late runs into the box by the ball far winger and Zambo Anguissa.This was how they managed to get their consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game. The Namibian defense had dealt with this threat from the Cameroonians very well, they had set defensive principles of covering the central zones, remaining compact between the lines and not gambling in deep areas.They looked to create chaos with long deep balls into the Cameroonian half on clearance. Wigan Athletics, Ryan Nyambe was the stand out performer in defense for the Namibians, his body positioning and posture in relation to the opponent was top notch with his reading of the defensive situations top notch. Out of possession, Namibia had a clear plan on how they would set about in hurting the Indomitable Lions. Cameroon looked to play in a 1-4-1-4-1 block, looking for zonal blocks, they were however very disjointed in between the lines and out in the channels, where the poor positioning by the fullbacks was exploited by the intelligent movement of Peter Shalulile.Namibia’s Brave Warriors scored a stunning 2-1 victory against Cameroon in Soweto on Tuesday to go to the top of Group C of the Afcon Qualifiers. Peter Shalulile & Absalom Iimbondi scored for Namibia while Vincent Aboubakar scored a late goal for Cameroon. Photos: BackpagePix pic.twitter.com/X0DLdzk7Q6— The Namibian (@TheNamibian) March 28, 2023 The goalkeeping situation in the Cameroonian camp came to boil on conceding the first goal, goalkeeper David Epassy was at fault for the first goal as he parried a rather weak shot straight at Peter Shalulile who was ever willing to cushion it into the back of the net.On the second goal, Cameroon conceded from a direct free kick, in this instance it is always very easy to blame the keeper; one could question his positioning on the goal.However, the situations that led to the goal were comic at best, Cameroonian defender Jean Charles Casteletto committed an unnecessary foul. The positioning of the wall seemed okay and the danger seemed to have been contained.However, on the free kick being taken by Namibian Absalom Limondi, Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar moved away from the wall and the ball was squeezed right through the wall and in. The score line will flatter Cameroon as a more composed Namibian front line would have buried the game.The shambolic defending, goalkeeping error and lack of a cohesive plan will raise many questions in Cameroon on whether Rigobert Song is the right man for the job. All credit should however go to the Namibians who put up a resolute display that sees them qualify from the three-team group, as the fourth nation, Kenya, was serving a ban when the qualifiers began.
