“I didn’t have all my squad”, Rigobert Song justifies the defeat against Senegal

Beaten by Senegal (0-1) Monday evening in a friendly, Cameroon coach Rigobert Song attributes this defeat of his team to the quality of his squad.

Punished by Russia (0-1) last week, Cameroon suffered its second consecutive defeat on Monday in this October international break. The Indomitable Lions were beaten by Senegal in Lens, France. Against the Lions of Téranga in a match played at the Bollaert stadium, the Cameroonians lost with a score of 1-0. The only goal of the game was scored by Sadio Mané in the 35th minute of play.

In a post-match press conference, Rigobert Song justified his team’s new victoryless outing. And the Cameroonian coach believes that there is no danger. He assures that the result would be different if he had his entire workforce at his disposal.

“There is no theory of danger. I think we are in preparation. I didn’t have my full complement. Those who played have already given me an idea with whom I will go to the CAN in three months. It wasn’t bad even if it’s true that we lost. The first half was difficult. But secondly, we were present. We brought youth. We rotated the squad. I have hope. We will find the ingredients that will allow us to go into this competition with high morale”he explained to journalists.

A position under threat?

A speech which, however, does not reassure the Cameroonian public who believe that the former captain of the Indomitable Lions is no longer the man for the job. Right or wrong? In any case, the statistics do not speak in favor of the ex-West Ham defender. Although he qualified Cameroon for the 2022 World Cup ahead of Algeria, Rigobert Song nevertheless displays a poor record at the head of the Indomitable Lions: only 4 victories to his credit on the Cameroonian bench (7 defeats and 5 draws) in 16 meetings.

Certainly, it seems unlikely that the Cameroon coach will be sacked before the start of CAN 2023 (January 13-February 11, 2024) in Ivory Coast. But a disastrous competition, with elimination in the first round (for a team placed in the pool of death, with Senegal, Gambia and Guinea as co-tenants of group C) would certainly precipitate the dismissal of Samuel Eto’s protégé. o.