Implications of Indomitable Lions loss to Senegal
CNA correspodent in Abidjan
Cameroon’s senior men’s national team is in a tight corner in their bid to qualify for the Round of 16 at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’Ivoire.
A 3-1 loss to defending champions, Senegal in their second Group C encounter signified a dicey campaign for the Indomitable Lions.
Goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diallo, and Sadio Mane ensured that Jean-Charles Castelleto’s header for the Central African side was a mere consolation.
Rigobert Song’s side has a huge task ahead of their final group match against already-eliminated Gambia.
They need an outright win to get a top-three finish in Group C and Guinea’s 1-0 win over Gambia put them in a dicey situation.
Since 1990, Cameroon has failed to make it out of the group stage on three occasions apart from 2012 and 2013 when the team didn’t qualify for the tournament.
In 1990 as defending champions, Cameroon crashed out from the group stage behind Zambia and Senegal.
Six years later, the team also crashed out from the group that has South Africa and Egypt.
A similar occurrence took place in 2015 when the team finished bottom of the group that has Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Mali.
Apart from 1990, every time Cameroon bowed out at the group stage, one of the teams from their group did go on to win the title.
South Africa (1996) and Cote D’Ivoire (2015) won the title the last two times the Indomitable Lions failed to make it from their group.
Cameroon has the pedigree to qualify but the team’s destiny is not in their hands depending on the result of the game between Senegal and Guinea as well as other teams in the best third-place category.
