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Nothing too fearsome about Indomitable Lions

CAMEROON made history at the 19901 World Cup whhen becoming the first African nationn to reach the quarter-finals, buut they have failed to advancee beyond the group stage in fivef subsequent World Cup campaigns and could struggle to make their markk in a tough section at Qatar 2022.

The Indomitable Lions see themselves as one of the stronger footballing nations in Africa and were not satisfied with their semi-final exit at this year’s African Cup of Nations, which was on home soil.

A change of manager followe ed with Rigobert Song replacin ng Antonio Conceicao, but ther re remains a lack of quality and balance in the squad. Their strength is in the attackin ng third.

Capta ain Vincent Aboubakar has had d a fantastic club career, winning g two league titles with Porto aand another two with Besikt tas, and his intern national scoring record (33 goals in 90 games) loo oks impressive.

He could be joined by p pacy Lyon forward Karl Toko Ekambi and Bayern Munich attacker Eric ChoupoMoting, who has performed a valuable sq quad role for the Bavaria ans over the last two seasons.

A lack of quality in midfield is Cameroon’s issue.

They often looked short of ideas against at the Africa Cup of Nations and appear reliant on Napoli star Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana is an asset but could be exposed due to a lack of quality defenders.

Gent defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui has been surprisingly overlooked and a chance has been taken on Aris Thessaloniki’s Nicolas Nkoulou, who has been injured for almost two years.

Nantes defender JeanCharles Castelletto has been playing more regularly at a decent level, but Cameroon’s

WDLPortugal manager for eight years, Santos has credit in the bank after overseeing their Euro 2016 victory. However, given the abundance of talent in his squad there have been questions asked of his safety-first approach in recent years.

• Strength in depth with a wealth

of Premier League talent

• Know what it takes to win a

major tournament

• Have a better squad than four

years ago

• Ronaldo’s powers appear on

the wane

• Cautious style inhibits flair players from expressing themselves

• Poor recent record at World

Cups

WORLD CUP 2022 GROUP G

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https://racingpost.pressreader.com/article/282437058112715

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