Our boys in Africa

By: Shazback | January 29th, 2008

Tomorrow Cameroon take on Sudan in what should be a straightforward affair for Sammy Eto’o and his friends. That’ll be the last of the group stages for Rennes’ players. So, who are Rennes’ players getting on in the African Cup of Nations 2008 in Ghana?

Mensah’s Ghana and M’Bia’s Cameroon are amongst the favourites to get to the final…
Perhaps Rennes will have a winner and a finalist!

Ghana : John Mensah, Defender, Capitain, 25 (29-11-1982)

John Mensah is an integral part of the Ghanaian side that has cruised to the quater-finals of their ACN almost effortlessly. Ghana will continue their road to Accra with a game in the quater-finals against Nigeria, second in group B behind Ivory Coast. So far, Mensah has been almost perfect, as captain of the home side that have won all their games so far (albeit not always convincingly), and as a central part of the best defence of the tournament (well, tied best with Nigeria and Ivory Coast).

So far, John hasn’t missed a single minute of action for Ghana, and has been in very good form, even if Ghana haven’t proved as impressive as some expected, winning two of their three games so far by a one-goal margin (2-1 against Guinea, 1-0 against Namibia, 2-0 against Morocco). But Ghana seem to be fuelled by the spirit of their main midfielder, Michael Essien, who seems have brought a bit of “Chelsea” with him. They don’t always play beautifully, but so far, they score one more than their opponent.

Ghana aren’t hot favourites to win the final in Accra, but with Essien and Muntari in midfield, Sarpei, Addo, Pantsil and Mensah in defence, Kingson in goal and Gyan in attack, they’re one of the most complete sides in the ACN, both offensively and defensively. However, they have found it hard in front of goal so far, and have had to rely on their midfield to provide match-clintching goals. Mensah’s captaincy has the difficult task of keeping the ACN in Ghana for 2 years, and win a trophy that has eluded the 4-times ACN winners since a quarter of a century, when they beat Libya in the 1982 finals. Born almost 9 months after the final win, perhaps Mensah is meant to lift up the trophy in Accra…

Good luck, John!

Cameroon : Stéphane M’Bia, Midfielder, 21 (20-05-1986)

Cameroon have had a rocky ACN so far, losing their opening game in a poor display against reigning champions Egypt (4-2), before hitting form (and five goals) when they faced Zambia (5-1). M’Bia has only had a small role to play, featuring alongside Makoun in a catastrophic first-half display by Cameroon against Egypt. Cameroon haven’t seemed unbeatable, but the game against Sudan should be nothing more than a formality, Sudan still looking for their first point and their first goal. The only way Cameroon could avoid the quarter-finals is if they get fewer points against Sudan than Zambia get against Egypt. Almost impossible.

M’Bia hasn’t featured in both of Cameroon’s games in this ACN, and only a very little is worth remembering. Against Egypt the whole Cameroonian side put in a poor display, but where the battle was lost was in central midfield. Makoun and M’Bia were outplayed by the more technical Egyptian midfielders, and resorted to playing long balls forwards hoping to find Eto’o, without success. He and Makoun didn’t take part in the second half, where Cameroon looked better, scoring twice and conceding only once. M’Bia wasn’t even back against Zambia, and had to watch from the sidelines as Mbami, Emana and Song put in good performances in a Cameroonian side that raised its playing level as a whole .

Eto’o is undoubtedly the heart of Cameroon, and there’s a lot of expectation on Eto’o to get Cameroon to win. Thanks to his presence, Cameroon are only one goal behind Ivory Coast (and Drogba) in the goalscoring charts, even though they have a game in hand. With 7 goals in 2 games, Cameroon are prolific in attack, and Job and Idrissou will have to battle it out over this ACN to replace usual frontman Webo alongside Eto’o. With Kameni in goal, Song and Geremi in defence, Cameroon are decently equipped to face attacking opponents, but Egypt proved just how weak Cameroon are on a bad day. In fact, Cameroon’s main problem is that they have a lot of good defensive midfielders, but too few creative players to provide Eto’o with the space he needs to shine. M’Bia will have to face off Song, Makoun, Emana and Mbami if he wants to feature later on in the competition. However, he didn’t shine against Egypt but wasn’t as dissapointing as Makoun, leaving him a chance to redeem himself as a substitute.

Good luck, Stéphane!

And I’ll finish off with a short thought for Rennes’ reserve player Achille Rachid Rouga, who went to Ghana to represent Benin for their second ever ACN (the first was in 2004). Benin only slightly improved on their previous record (conceded one goal less, still looking for their first point in the ACN, eliminated at the group stage), and Rouga didn’t feature in any of Benin’s games, meaning he’s still looking for his first full international cap. But I bet it was a great experience for the young player to live such a great competition and wear his country’s colours!

Hope you’ll soon make us proud at Rennes too, Achille!