Rigobert Song to likely take over from Portuguese António Conceição. The decision could be officially announced on Wednesday February 23.Will Rigobert Song Bahanag be the new coach of the Indomitable Lions? It is, according to our information, the will of Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot). The latter, however, asked the executive committee of the body for an additional three days, and plans to make the official announcement on Wednesday, February 23.
Arm wrestling with Narcisse Mouelle Kombi
On February 13, a week after the end of the competition held in Cameroon, the Minister of Sports, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, had nevertheless announced his intention to leave the reins of the national team to the Portuguese. In the line of sight, in particular, the match with Algeria, scheduled for March 23, which counts for the qualification for the World Cup, which is to take place in Qatar next November and December.
RIGOBERT SONG IS DOOMED TO PROVE HIMSELF VERY QUICKLY
Except that the president of Fecafoot was of a different opinion. On February 14, in a letter addressed to the minister responsible for the federation, Samuel Eto’o recalled that, according to the texts in force, “the administrative, sporting and technical management of national football teams falls within the competence of Fecafoot “. And, consequently, that “the reflection on the maintenance or the termination of the contract of the coach of the national team [was] still in progress”
Supported in his approach by the executive committee of the federation, which met on February 16 in Limbé, in the South-West, Eto’o took action.
If his appointment were to be confirmed, Rigobert Song would be condemned to prove himself very quickly, with the immediate objective of qualifying the Indomitable Lions for the 2022 World Cup.Eto’o-Song reconciliationThe ex-international, now 45, wrote some of the most memorable pages in the history of Cameroonian football. Record holder of the number of selections within the national team (137), he wore the colors of the country during four World Cups and eight African Cups of Nations (CAN). Twice he was part of the team that brought the cup to Yaoundé (2000 and 2002).
Trained at the football school of Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC) and Tonnerre Yaoundé, Song also played for Salernitana (Italy), Liverpool, West Ham (England), Cologne (Germany), Galatasaray and Trabzonspor (Turkey). He ended his playing career in 2010.Consultant for the Orange channel, he then became a coach and executive within Fecafoot. A stroke, which occurred in 2016, had forced him to retire for a time, but he was able to resume his activities two years later.
At the time when the two men wore the colors of Cameroon, Rigobert Song and Samuel Eto’o sometimes had strained relations. The first had notably lost his captain’s armband in favor of the second, in 2009.
Since then, the two former internationals have buried the hatchet. Last August, Rigobert Song had publicly supported Samuel Eto’o in his campaign to conquer Fecafoot. After Eto’o’s election, Song hailed “a new era full of hope and great promise” for Cameroonian football.
credit: Jeune Afrique