::: The Indomitable lions of Cameroon: Still alive or dead?:::

A thousand times they got us excited, Inspired, awakened, honored. And a thousand and one times they let us down. 

Now the question goes thus: 

The Indomitable lions of Cameroon: Still alive or dead?

Just a couple of years ago if you were to ask any Cameroonian what he/she thinks about his/her national team, the answer would have been obvious:

"We have no team"

"We are the last in all rankings" 

"We have a strong name but a weak team"

 And so on. But a few years ago we found our boys doing real great, especially in the world cup qualification games against Tunisia, Togo, Congo and Libya, and also the friendly match against Germany in their own Country. 

The Lions left their fans with comments like these to name a few:

·         "It was a great game. hope we see this in Brazil"

·        " Allez les lions"

·       "  Impossible n´est pas Camerounais!"

·        " Bone defense Camerounais en tout cas"

·        " Les Camerounais, nous sommes les meilleurs..."

" "A bientôt pour fêter la coupe du monde au Brésil"

·         "I´m proud of my country Cameroon."

After the ranking we found ourselves in group A on the Calendar of matches with other teams like Brazil, Croatia and Mexico. Cameroonians got out so proudly in their numbers all dressed up in Green Red and Yellow, with heads right up on the day of the match against Mexico.

Even though they were defeated on that day, they still had hopes and still believed in their boys, not knowing what was awaiting them. 

Then came the next match against Croatia on the 18.06.2014 which excited the world cup not only in the same terrible way as the past years, but in a disgraceful and disgusting one, with midfielder Alexandre Song, being sent off five minutes before the break for an elbow on Mario Mandzukic with his team trailing 1-0 thereby punishing Cameroon with three goals after the interval, and that not being enough, and to make matters even worse, late in the game, a fight almost brakes out between team-mates Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Benjamin Moukandjo. Benoit appeared to be unhappy with Mounkandjo's part in Croatia's fourth goal and confronted him on the pitch. 

Now how humiliating was that?

It's unimaginable," said Finke. "I saw this happen and I need to find out exactly what happened, why exactly these two players exploded"

Song later apologized for his part with Mandzukic.

In a statement he said:

 "I'm very sad at the moment as I feel I have let my country and myself down.

It was a stupid moment and I'm truly sorry. If I could do anything to take it back I would. Please forgive me."

Do these boys truly know how much this has costed Cameroon? Are they truly aware of the fact that they represent a Country? A Nation?

Is asking for forgiveness just enough?

Even though their coach tried to hide things from the press, it was but obvious to everybody that the team had problems. That they went to Brazil at logger heads! 

What did you expect of a team that leaves its own country heading for a world competition in argument for finance?

 "A team that`s in greed for money and fame and not success?": ´ reported a foreign magazine.

 

These are some of the instances when one will wish he was in his own country. Because being out of your country in times like these makes things even worse. You get other people asking you really silly questions like:

 `Are Africans really barbaric? ‘Or can they not control their emotions?

Well it`s not over yet though. Keeping fingers crossed for the match against Brazil.

 It´s just their last chance in this competition….a last chance to show the world how truly sorry they are. And to make the Cameroonian community know that the future is still bright.

Impossible nest vraiment pas cameroonais

Truely Yours

Ashime Joyce!

Your comments are highly appreciated. Thank you.