Cameroon: Clinton Njie, Jean Pierre Nsame amongst 32 Players Summon by Coach António Conceição

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

The head coach of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon António Conceição has called up Clinton Njie for preparatory games as the country builds up to host the 2022 AFCON and qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Cameroon will face Japan on October 9 at the Stade du Utrecht in a friendly encounter. 

The players are expected to have a camping session in Holland from October 5 to 13, 2020. All of the players summoned are based in Europe, with no local selection on the list. Sports pundits had been hoping that some players in the Elite 1 championship would be giving the call, looking at their performances in the last football season.

Clinton Njie, who recently tendered an apology for his sexual misconduct last year, has been giving a new leaf by the Head coach after a scintillating form for his club side Dynamo Moscow.

Njie signed for Russian outfit Dynamo Moscow for $6 million from Olympique Marseille for whom he spent two seasons. During the 2019/2020 Russian Premier League football season, he played fifteen times and scored one goal. In all competition, Njie played 25 times and scored 3 goals. This season, the player has scored 2 goals in 6 appearances for his side.

Jean Pierre Nsame, record breaker for his club Young Boys has been handed his third called up to the Lion’s den by António Conceição. He will be hoping to get his second start for the Lions since playing against Nigeria on September 4, 2017 in a qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup.

The 2019/2020 football season has been one to remember for the Cameroonian international. At the end of the football season plagued by the COVID-19, Nsame finished as the top goal scorer in the Swiss League with 32 goals, a record for any Cameroonian or African footballer since the likes of Samuel Eto’o (scored 30 goals in a season).

His top scorer award adds to the one he won in the Swiss Challenge League. He won the award in the 2016/2017 season scoring 23 goals. This year, Young Boys won back-to-back-to-back league titles. The side finished on 76 points, 8 points ahead of second-placed St Gallen.

“It has been a milestone for him as an individual,” Edward Mwambo, a writer with Kick442.com told PAV. “It is a good time for him as a player for Cameroon, and we hope that we can tap from these good times and benefit from his goal scoring touch for the Lions.”

Cameroonian sports enthusiasts and journalists have identified Nsame as one of the potent finishers that the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have been lacking, ever since legend Samuel Eto’o ended his national career.

Cameroon will certainly be counting on him to produce on home soil as the country look to win the AFCON. The country last won it in 2017 but failed to leave up to expectation in the 2019 edition. The team has already qualified for the competition as host but is participating in the qualifiers to be match fit.

The call up features the usual suspects of Andre Onana, Fabrice Ondoa, Kunde Malong, Captain Eric Choupo Moting, Aboubakar Vincent, Oyongo Bitolo.