June 10 – Amid an institutional crisis at Cameroon’s football federation over the government appointment of head coach Marc Brys, he led the Indomitable Lions to a comfortable 4-1 victory against Cape Verde in the World Cup qualifiers.
In Yaoundé, the visitors were no match for the Indomitable Lions with Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui scoring the opening goal in the 13th minute before a brace from Vincent Aboubakar and a 54th-minute strike from Nouhou Tolo wrapped up a comprehensive victory.
Cameroon go joint top of Group D with Libya on points but are ahead on goal difference. The win was a measure of redemption and revenge for the embattled Brys, who had been dismissed by Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) president Samuel Eto’o, and then re-instated.
After the match, Brys commented on the problems: “We can’t hide that. It should be easier to be a manager and to play matches. There’s always something here that gets on your nerves. But we’re not going to start crying – unfortunately, there’s too much work for that. It is simply not productive for the 30 million Cameroonians. Again, I’m not political. I am here to simply do a job.”
The Belgian was reinstated as coach after Eto’o, the boss of the Cameroonian FA (Fecafoot), apologised for a row that led Brys to be replaced. In unprecedented scenes, Martin Ndtoungou had replaced the Belgian on an interim basis of the Indomitable Lions after an altercation between Eto’o and Brys.
A Fecafoot statement cited “disrespectful comments,” “an outright refusal to collaborate,” and “inappropriate behavior” by both Brys and his assistants as reasons for his dismissal.
In April, Cameroon’s sports ministry appointed the Belgian without consulting Fecafoot who were dismayed and expressed their “great astonishment” at what they perceived as a decision “taken unilaterally.”
The win over Cape Verde was crucial for Cameroon who play Angola tomorrow. CAF has nine automatic qualifying slots for 2026, plus an intercontinental play-off. Only group winners automatically qualify.
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