RF Football » Paul Le Guen http://www.rffootball.com Thoughts on world football, from Richard Farley Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:03:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Thoughts on world football, from Richard Farley Richard Farley no Richard Farley, 2009- Audio content from around the web, featuring Richard Farley soccer, football, futebol, futbol RF Football » Paul Le Guen http://www.rffootball.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.rffootball.com WCQ Preview: Cameroon versus Togo http://www.rffootball.com/2009/10/09/wcq-qualifying-review-cameroon-versus-togo/ http://www.rffootball.com/2009/10/09/wcq-qualifying-review-cameroon-versus-togo/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:10:20 +0000 Richard Farley http://www.rffootball.com/?p=586 Cameroon sits at the top of Africa’s Group A, having climbed from fourth (last) to first during the last break by virtue of their two wins against Gabon, who previously led the group. The Indomitable Lions lead Gabon by one point, Togo by two, with a November trip to Morocco to close-out qualifying.

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Cameroon sits at the top of Africa’s Group A, having climbed from fourth (last) to first during the last break by virtue of their two wins against Gabon, who previously led the group. The Indomitable Lions lead Gabon by one point, Togo by two, with a November trip to Morocco to close-out qualifying.

Cameroon is one of three African teams (along with Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire) that could challenge for the next World Cup. All of their major contributors are gaining experience at good clubs in Europe. They have brought in manager Paul Le Guen (former of Stade Rennes, Olympique Lyonnais, Rangers, and Paris St. Germain) to guide them. They have elite talents (Samuel Eto’o) to mix with team veterans (Geremi, Carlos Kemeni, Jean Makoun) and the cast of younger, emerging players (Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Alexandre Song, Stephane Mbia, Sébastien Bassong) which will be the core of their team for Brazil. This team is capable of replicating their 1990 run to the quarterfinals, and given some look and the location of the event, Cameroon could go farther.

This post is continued at Mad About Fútbol.

Individual match previews will be on The Kartik Report and Mad About Fútbol. Long form previews will be on World Soccer Reader.

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]]> http://www.rffootball.com/2009/10/09/wcq-qualifying-review-cameroon-versus-togo/feed/ 0 Egypt, Cameroon Play Like Favorites http://www.rffootball.com/2009/09/05/egypt-cameroon-play-like-favorites/ http://www.rffootball.com/2009/09/05/egypt-cameroon-play-like-favorites/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:58:15 +0000 Richard Farley http://www.rffootball.com/?p=262 Egypt and Cameroon are one of three African group favorites that came into this qualifying period chasing the lead in their group. With only one bid available per four-term group, that meant the favorites were in near-must-win situations. Tomorrow, we’ll see if Nigeria can perform as well in their match with Tunisia, because [...]]]> <a href=Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o scored the Lions' insurance goal." title="etoocameroon12" width="300" height="259" class="size-medium wp-image-263" />Egypt and Cameroon are one of three African group favorites that came into this qualifying period chasing the lead in their group. With only one bid available per four-term group, that meant the favorites were in near-must-win situations. Tomorrow, we’ll see if Nigeria can perform as well in their match with Tunisia, because Egypt and Cameroon took care of business today, each winning on the road.

The two matches were remarkably similar. Each featured a scoreless first half in which the favorite had the better (but did not control) play. Each featured a goal toward the middle of the second half. Each saw the favorite take control of the match after gaining the lead.

In Gabon, Cameroon posted a 2-0 win over Group A’s leaders thanks to a Achille Emana (Real Betis, Spain) goal in the 67th minute. Two minutes later, the country’s all-time leading scorer (Samuel Eto’o) added an insurance tally in what truly was a must-win match for the Indomitable Lions. Had Cameroon lost, they would no longer control their own destiny and would have to rely on Gabon dropping points on two of their final three matches. Hosting Gabon on Wednesday, Cameroon can now take control of the group.

It was the debut of Cameroon national team coach Paul Le Guen, former boss at Paris St. Germain and Lyon.

In Rwanda, Egypt won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ahmed Hassan (who was almost immediately replaced right after). The result was not as influential given Rwanda sat third in Group C; rather, the result was obligatory. Egypt needs all points ahead of a November 14 match in Cairo against group leaders Algeria. Today’s result was the big obstacle, as Algeria had drawn 0-0 in Rwanda. With this 1-0 win, Egypt’s chances to qualify go from improbable to probable.

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