Cameroon coach Rigobert Song came full circle on a memorable and bittersweet night for African soccer. Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, the only member of Cameroon바카라s team who plays for a Cameroonian club, made an inspiring run and cross to set up Vincent Aboubakar바카라s header and stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 victory to make the Indomitable Lions the first African nation to beat Brazil at a World Cup. (More Football News)
Despite the victory on Friday, Cameroon finished third in its group and was eliminated.
The 24-year-old Ngom Mbekeli was Cameroon바카라s final substitution, coming on four minutes from time. Song credited his own former coach, Henri Michel, for giving him an opportunity in 1994 when he played for local club Tonnerre YaoundĂ© as he was making his World Cup debut.
바카라You need to trust youth,바카라 Song said through a translator. 바카라Henri Michel gave me an opportunity. He saw the potential in me. Now I바카라m the coach and I see potential in my young players.
바카라I knew (Ngom Mbekeli) was a good, quality player. He just needed an opportunity to show that. Hopefully his performance can motivate other local players.바카라
Goalkeeper Devis Epassy 바카라 thrust into action after usual starter Andre Onana was sent home for disciplinary reasons after a dispute with Song before Cameroon바카라s previous game 바카라 earned player of the match honors for a series of difficult saves.
바카라No one knew me 바카라 even in Cameroon 바카라 until I started playing for the national team a year ago,바카라 Epassy said through a translator. 바카라We can be proud of what we바카라ve done tonight. We showed that we can also be a top team.바카라
Both Epassy and Aboubakar play for clubs in Saudi Arabia. With eight goals in seven games, the 22-year-old Aboubakar was the top scorer at the African Cup of Nations in January.
Song and Samuel Eto바카라o, Cameroon바카라s soccer federation president, are instilling a strict discipline policy modeled after the European clubs that they once played for 바카라 Song as a reliable defender and Eto바카라o as a standout striker.
바카라That바카라s where we let ourselves down in the past,바카라 Song said. 바카라Perhaps we didn바카라t do everything right, so we바카라re focusing on discipline.
바카라The team always needs to take precedent over individuals. When you play for the national team you need to do what바카라s expected of you.바카라
While Brazil had already advanced and used mostly reserves, Cameroon still became the first team to beat the five-time champion in the World Cup group stage since Norway did it at the 1998 tournament in France 바카라 ending an unbeaten run of 17 group matches.
바카라We realize now that we could have done better,바카라 Song said. 바카라But we바카라re a young team and today we바카라ve seen a young team getting stronger and stronger, and they should be congratulated on their performance.
바카라It바카라s a real shame that we have to go home now,바카라 Song added. 바카라But we are going to keep working and keep improving.바카라
