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Jon’s – Ultimate National Challenge — African Cup of Nations Final MUST READ!
The list below is what I need to win and what I have already won so far;
The Copa America
The Oceania Nations Cup
The Caribbean Championships*
The Gold Cup
The World Cup – 2014 England
The Confederations Cup – 2013 England
The Olympics*
The African Nations
The Asian Cup
The European Championships – 2012 England
The Four Associations Tournament
As you can see there is two cups with a * on the end, they are in place because they aren’t a cup I have to win to complete it. If I get the chance I shall go for it but I will not be searching for the job.
Right hello everyone, as you no Cameroon managed to make it to the African Cup of Nations final, which is something they haven’t managed for last four tournaments. They last won it in 2002 when they beat Senegal on penalties 3-2! So it was a tight encounter but now in 2017 I plan to break Cameroon’s duck and win the African Cup of Nations! So could this be my last game in charge with Cameroon as there isn’t any more I can do with them. I shall decide my fate after the final whistle.
This one I am extremely nervous about, this is a tough cup to win but I think we have the will power to do it! We are up against Nigeria who last won this competition in 1994 when they beat Zambia. Here is something interesting for everyone, Cameroon and Nigeria have met in the final of this cup not once, not twice but three times where Cameroon came victorious three times in those meetings so could this be the first English manager to my knowledge to win the African Cup of Nations?
So a little background of Nigeria they are currently ranked 26th in the world rankings which is 11 places ahead of Cameroon which would makes Nigeria the favourites in this match. They have some great players in the squad such as Vincent Enyeama, Victor Obinna, Chinedu Obasi and finally an established premiership player John Obi Mikel.
So I’ll give you each teams story to the final, firstly Nigeria;
African Cup of Nations Group C –
Nigeria 3 – 2 Ivory Coast
Nigeria 1 – 1 Mali
Nigeria 3 – 1 Zambia
African Cup of Nations Quarter Finals –
Nigeria 1 – 0 Gabon
African Cup of Nations Semi Finals –
Nigeria 2 – 2 Ghana (Nigeria won on penalties 5 – 4)
Now for Cameroon’s road to the final;
African Cup of Nations Group B –
Cameroon 3 – 1 Libya
Cameroon 3 – 1 Zimbabwe
Cameroon 2 – 2 Ghana
African Cup of Nations Quarters Finals –
Cameroon 4 – 1 Senegal (AET)
African Cup of Nations Semi Finals –
Cameroon 3 – 0 Ivory Coast
So to me two interesting roads to the Final to get to Soccer City, some surprises in there for example Cameroon 3 – 0 Ivory Coast and Vincent Aboubakar having not played one match in the tournament but managed to get to the final!
So the odds for the final between Nigeria and Cameroon;
So as you can see Nigeria are 6-4 favourites to win the final but myself as a manager I’ve been the underdog before and managed to pull it off before so why not again?
Right this is a slight doubt before the match something I do not agree with;
So a Cameroonian doubts his own country to win tonight, for me personally what kind of Cameroonian are you you’ve got to support your own country! Disgrace whoever you may be!
Right everyone I’ve picked my squad and here they are my first eleven, I shall post player profiles for you as you may not have seen or heard of half of my guys!
Goalkeeper –
Right back –
Left back –
Centre backs –
Central midfielders –
Attacking right –
Attacking left –
Striker –
Finally one player some people have been requesting to see Vincent Aboubakar and here he is;
Right so that’s the team to face Nigeria, it’s the strongest team I could field at present it’s a shame Aboubakar isn’t fully fit for this game but may feature in the later stages of the game! The team has managed to pick up a massive 436 caps between the first eleven that is impressive! Without further due here you go people!
African Cup of Nations – Nigeria vs Cameroon
Venue – Soccer City, Johannesburg South Africa
Attendance – 87,600
Starting line-up –
Nigeria – Vincent Enyeama, Onyekachi Apam, Nazifi Inuwa, Dele Adelye, Angelo Ogbonna, Ayila Yussuf, Lukman Huruna, Eke Uzoma, Frank Temile, Ideye Brown and Chinedu Obasi.
Cameroon -Carlos Kameni, Allan Nyom, Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik, Aurelien Chedjou, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Stephane Mbia, Alex Song, Jean-Marie Ngah, Maxim Choupo-Moting, Armand Ella and Leonard Kweuke.
According to a well-known source “The Nigerian Football Express”
They said “I can’t choose between these sides and it may well take a shoot-out to separate them.”
So prior to this match I spoke to the boys and it wasn’t much of an inspirational talk but more of a congratulations of making it this far and you’ve done your manager proud, your country and most importantly yourself! (Team talk – For the fans)
So let’s kick off the first half –
With four minutes into the game Nigeria have been made to make an unwanted substitution Onyekachi Apam collided with Cameroonian left back Benoit Assou-Ekotto so on comes Chibuzor Okonkwo as the replacement.
So finally in the 26th minute of the game came the first piece of action that I was able to watch, so it all started off with a throwing from Benoit Assou-Ekotto who made a quick throw to Mbia who gave it back to Assou-Ekotto and with quick thinking and looking up made a pass coming closer to the Nigerian goal, Ella managed to latch on to the ball with Okonkwo quick on his case to snatch the ball off the Cameroon winger but manages to side step Okonkwo to find Ngah in the centre of midfield being the creator of the attack Ngah brings the ball forward heading for the Nigerian goal! Ngah finds the one man striker Kweuke who plays an instant ball to Choupo-Moting who does a great turn and strikes the ball with real fury at Enyeama who couldn’t catch the ball so parries the ball away but only manages to find Adeleye and Kweuke, Kweuke manages to nip ahead of Adeleye and manages to get a shot away and beats Enyeama but hits the post with Enyeama on the floor attempting to make a save from Kweuke the ball rebounds off the back of Enyeama and it is slowly rolling into the back off the Nigerian goal but only a piece of great defending by Angelo Ogbonna and clears it off the line and kicks it off for a corner kick for Cameroon.
35 minutes of the game has been played and Nigeria are on the first attack of the game, it starts off with striker Ideye Brown looking up and finding Obasi who is standing a couple of yards away from him. Obasi makes a one two with Temile which completely out does Kana-Biyik and Obasi is back on the ball a one on one with Kameni who comes out and makes himself big, Obasi shoots and sticks it wide of the post! Kana Biyik let off with a defence slip.
With 5 minutes left of the first half Cameroon have a free kick which Mbia takes and finds Assou-Ekotto on the left side of the pitch who plays it to his fellow player on the left hand side Ella, Ella makes an instant move onto the Nigerian goal making a defence slitting pass between the Nigerian defence Kweuke makes a first time shot it looks like it is heading towards the top right hand corner but marginally misses the target, good move for the Cameroon boys.
No more action for the rest of the first half and the refereeing brings the end of the half to a halt.
Half time –
Nigeria 0 – 0 Cameroon
Right lads, I can’t ask much more from you at the moment you’ve made a couple of great moves so far so keep it up and let’s win this cup for the nation! (Team talk – For the fans)
So the match stats at half time –
So guys, lets kick off the second half of the final;
Second half –
So its 72nd minute into the game and nothing has happened I am wanted to know what is going on but apparently there are no key moments in this game so far! So I decided to take some may say a risk and make a substitution and that’s Leonard Kweuke makes way for Vincent Aboubakar and also Maxim Choupo-Moting makes way for Titi.
Ok everyone I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my life since I’ve played this game a whole half with no keys moments but yet there has been shots etc… On the match stats as you can see;
Full time –
Nigeria 0 – 0 Cameroon
So boys, not much in the second half but not to worry I am sure you’ve got enough fuel in your tank to snatch a winner in extra time, you’ve done it before so why not again come on boys! (Team talk – All we need is one goal, you can do it!)
First half extra time –
Once again guys no action ¬_¬
Second half extra time –
Woop, something to say! A key moment! It all starts with Ella picking up the ball on the left side of the park he makes a darting run towards goal from the half way line towards the Nigeria’s goal he goes completely untouched from the half way all the way down to the semi-circle of the area where he unleashes a shot! It does no wonders for Cameroon and sticks it over the bar!
Full time after extra time –
Nigeria 0 – 0 Cameroon
So penalties will decide the fate for Cameroon and Nigeria let’s see how this works out!
Penalties –
Haruna – Nigeria – SAVED
Titi – Cameroon – SAVED
0 – 0 after first round
Taiwo – Nigeria – SAVED
Aboubakar – Cameroon – GOAL
0 – 1 to Cameroon after second round
Adeleye – Nigeria – MISSED (Post)
Chedjou – Cameroon – GOAL
0 – 2 to Cameroon after third round
Brown – Nigeria – SAVED
Cameroon wins the shoot-out 0 – 2 and wins the African Cup of Nations!
Full time
Nigeria 0 – 0 Cameroon (Penalties 0 – 2)
So guys you done the impossible in some eyes and over thrown the odds and won the African Cup of Nations! This may be the proudest moment of my life winning this cup with you boys! (Team talk – Pleased)
Finally here are the full time stats (AET);
Match report –
Nigeria 0 – 0 Cameroon (African Nations Final)
(Cameroon won 2 – 0 on penalties)
On a fine summers’ afternoon at Soccer City, Cameroon had the honour of lifting the African Nations after Cameroon’s 2 – 0 Africa Cup of Nations Final penalty win over Nigeria.
The first noteworthy incident of the match proved to be controversial, with Nigeria seeing a goal disallowed. Then followed controversy as Nigeria were denied claims by striker Chinedu Obasi for a penalty.
(Right Sports Interactive would be useful to show me these!!!)
In the shootout that followed it turned out to be heartache for Nigeria as striker Ideye Brown missed the final penalty.
Cameroon had more of the ball, which was to force their opponents into shooting from long range they saw an opening.
Best player award –
Cameroonian players made it on to the top three of the golden boot L
No Cameroonian players made it on to the top three of the fair play award L
Goal of the tournament –
Best goalkeeper award –
Finally the dream team from the African Cup of Nations;
So as you can see from above Cameroon managed to get four players into the dream team, Carlos Kameni, Jean-Marie Kana-Biyik, Nicolas Nkoulou, Jean-Marie Ngah and Titi.
So guys that’s an end of my era in Africa with Cameroon! I decided to resign from them as I see I have done all I could do with them and I will look for a new job in the national stage! Where? Who knows but let’s just see where my future takes me! Hopefully a team who compete in the Asian Cup or Copa America!
So this is where I leave you, you shall see what team I have managed to pick up after more than likely a bad campaign in a tournament. Hopefully I shall see you soon and I hope you enjoyed this episode!
Leave your interesting and creative responsive in the comment section below.
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E-mail – MrFootballManager@hotmail.com
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