By Boris Esono Nwenfor & Sonita Ngunyi Nwohtazie
BUEA, September 13, 2023 – The 2023 AFCON Qualifier is now done and dusted and after a nervy first half, Cameroon sealed their qualification to the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations with an emphatic victory over the Swallows of Burundi on Tuesday, September 12 at the Roumde Adjia Stadium in Garoua.
The 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast will run from January to February 2024 and will involve 24 teams as they seek to claim the coveted trophy. It will be an interesting one for the Indomitable Lions who will look to claim the trophy in Ivory Coast as they did for their first AFCON crown back in 1984.
Cameroon joins host Ivory Coast, defending champions Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, and the Gambia amongst the teams that have qualified for the Ivory Coast expedition next year. Pan African Visions now looks at the takeaways of Cameroon’s victory over Burundi.
Vindication for Andre Onana
Was there ever any doubt as to Cameroon’s present number 1? The Manchester United goalkeeper produced more than 3 vital saves in the first 23 minutes of the game to keep his country in the game.
Andre Onana was making his comeback to the national side after falling out with Coach Song at the FIFA Qatar World Cup last year. Onana was sent out of the Lion’s den and later announced his retirement. After persuasion from the Minister of Sports, Onana was finally called by Rigobert Song, signalling the burying of the hatchet between both parties.
The performance of Andre Onana was praised by Coach Rigobert Song and many Cameroonians. “I am very happy with Andre Onana’s performance,” Coach Rigobert Song said. “He demonstrates once again that he is among the best. We hope that it continues in the same vein.”
Rigobert Song finally wins a home game for Cameroon
It was something that has been in the mind of the Indomitable Lions coach ever since he took the reins of the national team. During the pre-match press conference ahead of the game, Coach Song was reminded of that statistics and said: “Tomorrow (September 12) will be my first home win since becoming a manager. The nets will rumble.”
And certainly the nets did rumble as Rigobert Song achieved the historic first win on home soil with the national side. The first home victory is expected to spur Coach Rigobert as he looks to qualify for the next world cup with the qualifiers expected in about a month’s time.
“We worked with them for a week. Played with Raymond Kalla and we had a difference in size like Moukoudi and Christopher Wooh. So, they are complementary and that corresponds to what we are looking for,” Cameroon Coach Rigobert Song said post match, looking at the performance of Wooh and Moukoudi.
Cameroon misses Fai Collins
Cameroonians do not refer to Fai Collins as “Dependable Fai” for nothing. The former right back for Standard Liege and FC Dinamo before Cameroon’s last AFCON qualifier game had almost made the right back position for the Indomitable Lions his own.
However, since leaving Al-Tai in Saudi A in July this year, Fai Collins has not found a club, the reason why he was not selected by Coach Rigobert Song. The replacement came in Philadelphia player Olivier Mbaizo. The 26-year-old struggled to contain the onslaught of the Burundians who found it difficult to go pass him in the encounter.
Mbaizo, a former Union Douala and Rainbow FC player failed to deliver that cutting edge cross for Vincent Aboubaka as the latter is used to. The pressure of stepping up in the place of Fai Collins might have gotten the best of him in the first half but he put that to bed in the second half against Burundi and produced an outstanding performance. Should he produce the same level of performance, Mbaizo is sure to become the number one right back for the Indomitable Lions.
Bryan Mbuemo, Oh! So Good!
24-year-old Bryan Tetsadong Marceau Mbeumo, one of the key performers as Cameroon sailed over Burundi. The former Troyes player was a nightmare to the Swallows as they found difficulty in containing the left-foot of Mbeumo.
In 9 appearances for his national side, Mbeumo had failed to score. This goal will be a new lease of life for the player who has been outstanding for his club side. In his last four matches, Mbeumo found the back of the net four times and was one of the standout players for Cameroon heading into the Burundi clash.
In the game against Burundi, the Brentford right winger played 89 minutes and was just so sensational. He scored a goal and produced four shots as Burundi had a lot of difficulty to contain
Burundi, second consecutive AFCON failure
The Swallows of Burundi will rue their missed opportunities of not booking a ticket to Ivory Coast. But the boys of Coach Etienne Ndayiragije will be proud of themselves having gone toe-to-toe with the Indomitable Lions, though losing in both encounters.
Burundi qualified for their first AFCON back in 2019 but failed to live up to the hype. The team was placed in Group B and finished bottom with three defeats in a group that contained Nigeria, Madagascar and Guinea.
The Swallows have now failed to qualify for the last two AFCON competitions, missing the 2021 edition in Cameroon and now the 2023 edition in Ivory Coast. All hope is, however, not lost as Burundi is plotting the 2025 edition.
