A Brutal Reawakening For Indomitable Lions In Uzbekistan

By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_100813" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Indomitable Lions are using these friendly games to prepare for the FIFA Qatar World Cup[/caption] Russia-based duo Hojimat Erkinov and Oston Urunov scored either side of half-time to give Uzbekistan the win over the five-time African champions Cameroon, who begin their World Cup campaign against Switzerland in November. Cameroon is in Group G alongside Brazil and Serbia and Switzerland. The encounter for the Indomitable Lions served as a friendly game for the side ahead of their participation at the FIFA Qatar World Cup less than two months to go. Coach Rigobery Song said ahead of the game that it will be one where new players will be tested and saw the likes of Bryan Mbeumo featuring for the first time for the Lions. The forward represented France at a junior level before switching allegiance to the central African nation of his father last month. The 23-year-old played the full 90 minutes at Goyang Stadium near Seoul in the north of South Korea, where Nicolas Nkoulou returned for the first time since winning the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final. Many sports reporters have noted that the way the national team is going if care is not taken the country may not cross the group stage, something that country has failed to do in the past three editions of the FIFA World Cup. Bizarrely, the country’s FA president Samuel Eto’o said he wanted to see his country lose. "We wanted to see the reaction of the team, and for the first time—I hoped for Cameroon to lose. Our objective is still the same; to depart Qatar on the evening of December 18, the date of the World Cup final. We won't lose sight of our objective,” FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto’o said. [caption id="attachment_100814" align="alignnone" width="800"] Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo made his Cameroon debut[/caption] Rigobert Song now has as many defeats (2) in 4 matches as Antonio Conceicao (former coach) had in 23 matches. Altogether, Conceicao has 14 wins, 6 draws and 3 defeats. So far, Song has 1 win, 1 draw and 2 defeats. A worrying stat for the West African nation that has set its goal of leaving Qatar with the FIFA World Cup trophy. The next friendly game for the Indomitable Lions will come up on Tuesday, September 26 against South Korea. The fans will be expecting a change of momentum for the side as the team continue its preparation for the World Cup.