It will be a double header for Coach Sunday Oliseh as he takes the bench in his first high profile game in charge of the Super Eagles in two friendly encounters against Congo and eternal rivals Cameroun in what football pundits have termed bringing out the ‘’heat ‘’ in the Eagles gaffer.
The Super Eagles will play Congo (Red Devils ) on Thursday, October 8,2015 at Antwerp in Belgium and three days later precisely on the 11th will lock horns with the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun in Brussels as the nation awaits the outcome of these two crucial games which in my opinion ngoes beyond a friendly encounter.
The Eagles at this moment are on the long walk back to continental glory first before getting to the global stage in the nearest future and the task before Oliseh today is enormous as he begins this quest to get the country back to winning ways and what better way can he achieve this than to play the best.
With a recent one notch up in the FIFA rankings to a 52nd spot, it may be a humble beginning as our earlier friendly against the Niger Republic which we trounced by two goals has given the team a platform and needed confidence to excel.
The two games would be played in Oliseh’s ‘’territory’’ and it is expected that living in Belgium over the years would provide the best ambience for the new Super Eagles under Oliseh’s tutelage to succeed and the level of cooperation with his employers remains very cordial, professional and commendable so far and we believe that the distractions will be less this time around.
This will be Sunday Oliseh’s first major test and it will go to prove so much especially in laying a new confidence for the Eagles and ensuring that Nigerians stand behind him to succeed in the task. Both sides are currently ranked higher than Nigeria at the moment and stand so much advantage in African football over the Eagles.
The Red Devils of Congo have never qualified for the World Cup but have won the Africa Cup of Nations once in 1972 and won the Gold in the All Africa Games in 1965. They have won their regional CEMAC Cup once in 2007, UDEAC Championship once in 1990 and have been two times runners up at the Central African Games.
The present squad is a blend of players with Goal keeper Christoffer Mafoumbi being the safe hands with eleven appearances so far, Francis N’Ganga leading the defence line at age thirty and played thirty four times for the Devils alongside Boris Moubhibo who at twenty eight years has featured twenty times and Marvin Baudry at twenty five years brings a younger flavour into the team with twelve appearances so far.
The Red Devils midfield is pivoted by Prince Oniangue who has featured for the side twenty six times, Delvin N’Dinga who at twenty seven has appeared for the team thirty nine times and is obviously one of their most consistent players and Casaire Gandze who at twenty six years has featured for the national team twenty four times.
The strike force is led by Ladislas Douniama who has a record of twenty eight goals so far for the team, Fabrice N’Guessi who has netted twenty five goals and Fereboy Dore who has shot himself into limelight with twenty three goals and the team is coached by a veteran journey=man on the continent and well respected tactician, Claude Le Roy.
For the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun, any game against this side as viewed as a potential high profile game bearing the rivalry between these two sides and the number of games the Indomitable Lions have edged Nigeria controversially to win the Africa cup of Nations if we recall the final at Maroc 1988 and Nigeria in 2000.
Every opportunity has always been at place to take a pound of flesh but the closest to a sweet revenge was the emphatic win the Eagles dealt on the Lions on their way to winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994.
Over the years , the Indomitable Lions have overwhelmed Africa with the greatest stars even on the global stage with the legendary names like Thomas Nkono,Idris Carlos Kameni, Emmanuel Kunde, Raymond Kalla, Francois Oman Biyik, Stephen Taw taw, Cyril Mackanaky, Rigobert Song ( the most capped player of all times in the country with 137 caps) ,Patrick Mboma, and the big time guns like Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’ Fills ( the top scorer of the team with fifty eight goals) who have made Cameroun one of Africa’s leading football giants till date
Few years ago, the team suffered blip especially after the success story of the post 1990 Roger Milla and were the first African team to reach the quarter final of the World Cup at Italia 1990 a feat seconded by Senegal at France 1998.
They are currently among Africa’s top ten at the moment above Nigeria and Congo and have re-defined a team of younger players as they stick to their purposeful physical possession of the ball on the field.
The Indomitable Lions have been to the World Cup a whooping seven times the first being at Espana 1982 and have appeared at the Africa Cup of Nations sixteen times winning it in 1984, 1988. 2000 and 2002. They were also runners up at the FIFA Confederations cup in 2013.
For the game against Nigeria on October 11, 2015, the team has called up twenty five players to battle with the Eagles with the likes of Fabrice Ondoa in goal with fifteen appearances and Guy N’dy assemble also listed with fourteen appearances, while the defence line is led by Nicloas Nkoulou who at twenty years has played for the national team sixty four times, Aurellien Chedjou with thirty nine caps and Joel Matip with twenty seven caps.
The midfield will be marshalled by Stphane Mbia, a veteran in the side and team captain who has featured for the team sixty three times, Eyong Enoh, fifty three times and Edgar Salli at age twenty three has been capped twenty two timesn while the attack line will be led by Vincent Aboubakar who in forty appearances has scored eleven times, Eric Maximwith twelve goals from thirty nine games and Clinton N’jie with six goals from eleven games.
Both games are perfect window opportunities for all the teams especially as the 2018 World Cup qualifiers begins in November and the need to find formidable African opposition has become pertinent.
Going into the games this week, Oliseh should bear in mind that the season of experiments with call ups of players that would make the national team a lobbyist platform is over and should use this opportunity to shape his best players devoid of sentiments as we look forward to double header victories in these games.
Like I noted earlier, these games are beyond the mere friendly fixtures as it would go to prove the intellectual new depth Sunday Oliseh will be bringing to the national team and the new opportunity it will give the home based players to excel especially as they prepare for the CHAN in a tough qualifier against Burkina Faso later in the month.
We expect a full squad led by the legendary captain Vincent Enyeama to lead the team once again to victories as the support base of the Eagles swells daily and we make the global limelight with Oliseh’s modest and successful humble strides once again. Let’s fly with these Eagles once again.
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