Cameroon Vs Tunisia. Eto’o Fils Recall. Will he… will he Not?

Football lovers across Cameroon and around the globe have now held their collective breath to see if Lions attacker Samuel Eto’o Fils will play in Rades Tunisia when both national teams clash in the away leg second qualifiers for Brazil world cup on October 13, 2013. Eto’o Fils reportedly told his team mates after the Libyan match that he would retire from international football.

Indomitable Lions of Cameroon

Eto’o Fils is one of seven attackers and part of the 25 mostly foreign based players called up for the match.  Finke had since told the press Eto’o Fils did not make any official declaration to the effect that he had retired from the national team and if we are to assume coaches contact players to check their suitability and availability, we can assume he contacted Eto’o before making his name public.

Opinion among football lovers has been sharply divided following talk that Eto’o Fils, one of the best players the Lions have, might never play again for the team with an equal number of people supporting or opposing his stand.   (see vox pop)

Apparently, Eto’o Fils who until recently was the highest paid player on earth is not happy with the way football is managed in Cameroon and has said a couple of times football governing body authorities (FECAFOOT) needed to be changed and sports authorities should invest in infrastructure in the country. 

Despite participating in five world cups in the last 30 years and winning four African nations cup, Cameroon cannot host any international competitions. The Douala and Yaounde Omnisports stadiums were constructed to host the 1972 African nations cup and are hopelessly outdated today.

FIFA had to step in to help Fecafoot buy their present headquarters in Tsinga.

Former Fecafoot  president Iya Mohammed managed to win elections as president from the discomfort of his Kondengui prison cell. He was detained for misappropriating funds from Sodecotton, a state parastatal he has managed for almost 30 years. He was Fecafoot preisdent for 15 years. A FIFA appointed body is now managing football matters in Cameroon and elections will be organised at the end of their tenure.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto, on loan at Queens Park Rangers and  Benoit Angbwa, who plays for Anzhi Makhachkala did not make the list.

Herewith list of  the 25 pre-selected players for match with Tunisia:

Keepers:

ITANDJE Charles (Konyaspor)

KAMENI Carlos (Malaga)

N(D)JOCK Sammy (Fethiyespor)

Defenders:

NYOM  Allan (Granada CF)

NOUNKEU Dany (Galatasaray)

CHEDJOU  Aurélien (Galatasaray)

NKOULOU Nicolas (O. Marseille)

KANA-BIYIK Jean-Armel (Stade Rennes)

BONG Gaitan ( Olympiakos)

BEDIMO Henri (O. Lyon)

 Midfielders:

MBIA Stéphane (FC Sevilla)

EYONG Enoh (Ajax Amsterdam)

MAKOUN Jean II (Rennes)

MATIP Joël (Schalke 04)

LOE Raoul Cédric (CA Osasuna)

N’GUEMO Landry (Bordeaux)

SONG Bilong Alexandre (CF Barcelona)

SALLI, Edgar  (Lens)

Forwards:

ETO’O FILS Samuel (FC Chelsea)

WEBO Pierre Achille (Fenerbahce)

ABOUBAKAR Oumarou (Waasland-Beveren)

CHOUPO MOTING Eric (Mainz 05)

ZOUA Jacques (Hamburger SV)

MOUKANDJO Benjamin (AS Nancy-Lorraine)

OLINGA, Fabrice (Malaga)

On the waiting list

NDY ASSEMBE Roland (Guingamp)

BAGNACK Frank (FC Barcelona)

DONGOU Jean Marie (CF Barcelona)

ABOUBAKAR Vincent (Lorient)

IDRISSOU Mohamadou (Kaiserslautern)