“The most difficult
experience I’ve had in
30 years of coaching”
Whatare Cameroon’s chances
ofwinning theAfricaCup of
Nations?Isthere enough
depthin thesquadtogoalltheway?
It’sgoingtobeveryhardforall theteams,
withoutexception.Obviously, in ordertohave
thegoalofreachingthesemi-finalsorthe
final,wewillhaveto workhard;wewill have
tobea very strongandveryconsistentteam.
Asfar as ourchancesgo,theambitionwill
betogoasfaras possibleandto trytowin
thetitle.Weknowthatweplayat home and
thatthepublic will demandour presencein
thefinal.Wehavetobeverycoolandwork
hardandmakesure there arenomistakes
alongthe way. As forthe squad,the important
thingisthatwehavegoodplayersfroman
individualpointofviewandthatisa fact.
Butin ordertogetall thewayto thefinal,
I will needa very strongcollectivestrength,
becauseotherwisewewill have problems.
Sometimesthehomeexpectationcan be
unrealisticaheadofsucha tournament.
HowstiflinghasitbeeninCameroon?
Expectationsarehighbutwearen’thiding
awayfromthat.Wereallywanttoget as faras
possible;weare ambitiousbecauseweknow
thattheCameroonianpeopledemandthis
fromthenationalteam.Thehistoryofthe
teamisgreat:they’vewonthe CupofNations
fivetimes,beentoseven WorldCupsand
wonthegoldmedalattheOlympics,so
youcanunderstandwhythepeople demand
success.I thinkthere is a climateof optimism
butwe’llhaveto workhardto keepallthe
emotionsin check.
So,are youconfidentyourplayerscan
handlethe burdenof expectation?
Theplayersareimbuedwithgreatambition.
Obviously, thelastNationsCup wasnot
positiveforCameroon[roundof 16 exit
toNigeria],butwehavebeenbuilding
fortwoyearsnow with thissquad.It’s
a very cohesive,veryhappygroup.
Wewill worknotonlyfroma physical
andtacticalpointofview,butalsofroman
emotionalpointof view,whichisimportantfor
theplayersbecause thepressurewill be great.Howimportantwasit to winthe last
WorldCupqualifieragainst IvoryCoast
inNovember, andsecureyourplace in
thelast phaseofWorldCupqualifiers?
Thisvictorywasverypositivebecauseof
theconfidencethatthe teamgained;these
victoriesallow themtobelieveinthemselves
more.Moreconfidenceobviouslybrings more
motivationanditmeansthatwhenweregroup
atthe endofDecemberfortheCup of
Nations,thespiritwillbeevenhigher.
FromthemomentwelosttoIvoryCoastin
ourfirstgroupgameinSeptember, we knew
thereturnmatch[inNovember]wouldbea
finalforus.A drawor a defeatwouldhave
taken us outoftheWorldCup fightandso
fromthatpointofview it wasverypositive
towinthematch.
Wealsohada preparatorywinover
Nigeria[afriendlyinJune]andthesekinds
ofperformanceshelp theteamtogrow.The
winovertheIvoriansdidn’tbringusa title
oranything,buta moraleachievementof
confidenceand,aboveall,belieffor theCupof Nationsandthenobviouslyfor the
play-offsinMarch.
Wehavetobehonestand recognise thatif
wehadn’teliminatedIvoryCoast,therewould
havebeenmisgivingsaboutthe team.Now
thesupportersofthenationalteambelieve
thatthisteamhasthe capacitytofight for
theCupofNations.Theopinionofmany
peopleregardingthe nationalteamhas
changedforthe better.Whatisyourexpectationoftheopening
matchagainst BurkinaFaso,whoare an
unpredictableteam?
Weknow that BurkinaFasoareat a very
highand competitivelevel.Theydidn’tget
throughtothenextphaseofthe WorldCup
qualifiers,but they didn’tloseany gamesin
theirgroupeither, includingtwo against
Algeria,oneofthe best teamsonthe
Africancontinent.
Therefore,weexpect a difficultgamein
theopener. On topofthat,anopeninggame
ofsucha bigtournamenttendsto be avery
emotionalaffairwithmassive publicinterest.
Thiscreates an adrenaline;let’s seeifthe
adrenalineisgoingtobepositiveforus.
That’swhatwehope.Whatabouttherestofthegroup?
Youalreadyplayedagainst theCape
Verde Islandsin qualifyingandthey
didnotgowellfor Cameroon?
Ifwehaveaspirationsof winningthe group,
wecannotdroppointsagainstteamslike
CapeVerde andEthiopia. It is imperativethat
webeatthemtomoveonto thenextstage.TONICONCEICAOP R E V IE WThemanagerofAFCON 2021 hostsCameroondiscusseshisteam’schancesofvictory on homesoil2021 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS