Cameroon knows its opponents at the 2022 World Cup after the draw made this Friday, April 1, in Doha. At the end of November, in Qatar, the Indomitable Lions will face Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil, in group G. Our consultant Joseph-Antoine Bell, ex-Cameroonian international, is more wary of matches against the Swiss and the Serbs, considered as weaker than the Brazilians.
RFI: Cameroon will face Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in Qatar. How do you view this group?
Joseph Antoine Bell: There’s no need to dwell on it, you’re among the smallest (Cameroon was in pot 4 for this draw, editor’s note), so everyone you meet will be ranked higher than you.
When we are in the place of Cameroonit’s not Brazil that’s a problem, because when you face this team you’re always focused, the coach doesn’t need to be behind you, and that day you’re ready, you give the best of yourself.
? Cameroon will face Brazil for the third time in the World Cup finals. ????
▪️1994: Defeat 3-0 ❌
▪️2014: Defeat 4-1 ❌
▪️2022: ? pic.twitter.com/7M3jGXDvLD— GoTheLions (@GoTheLions) April 1, 2022
The real danger, and it is pernicious by the way, is that you are playing against Switzerland. And in Africa, it is believed that the Swiss know how to keep money, but do not play football. And Serbia, we don’t know where it is. Formerly, Yugoslavia, we talked about it, but Serbia, it is still recent, and we believe that it is nothing at all (Yugoslavia no longer exists since 2003, editor’s note).
The tragedy is that these are games against teams that may be slightly superior, but you are psychologically in a trap. And your people will resent you for losing those matches.
We have been able to judge Cameroon at a very high level in recent months with a home CAN finished in third place and this play-off won in the last moments against Algeria (0-1, 1-2). Did what you saw during these meetings reassure you?
Qualification against Algeria is a very good thing emotionally. But on a statistical level, it is a defeat (0-1 in Douala, March 25, editor’s note) and a victory (1-2 in Blida, March 29, editor’s note). This should not blind us to what really happened. It is by looking at things in depth that we agree to reflect.
Besides, when I hear ” we will work more I’m going to tell you: throughout my career, I haven’t seen that we could work more, but we can work better.
And speaking of high level matches, African high level matches are not world high level matches, we have to be honest. So, when we are Cameroon, we have to work better to go to the World Cup and not tell people that we are going to work more, because that means nothing.