ACTUALITE |
03.02.2002
Sikasso climate puts out Lauren Etame MAYER Cameroon’s
international midfield engine, Lauren Etame has been badly affected by the dust in Sikasso that the technical staff of the Indomitable Lions had no option than to completely drop him out of last Tuesday’s third group game against Togo.
Cameroon’s international midfield engine, Lauren Etame has been badly affected by the dust in Sikasso that the technical staff of the Indomitable Lions had no option than to completely drop him out of last Tuesday’s third group game against Togo.
Etame suffered from headache, eye infection and
general malaise after inhalling dust. Though he was
not in bed because of his positive response to
medication, he could not train.
In spite of huge efforts by the Mali Civil Protection
corp to water roads in and around the CAN village that
lodges the Lions, the players still inhale a lot of
dust. The fast and dry wind dries up the roads a few
hours after the watering. The wind also brings in dust
to add to that raised by vehicles in the village. And
in the night, though you see no dust, the atmosphere
smells of dust, hindering smooth breathing.
Since all the players live in temperate Europe, the
technical staff are worried that the situation may
affect other players. At the same time they are
reassured by the improvement of Etame’s situation and
hope that even if the boys are affected they will be
able to perform and deliver.
However, if the Lions win their quarter-finals game
on Monday, they will move out for the semis and final
in Bamako where the climate appears less hostile.
Meantime, on Tuesday the Lions demonstrated their
will to win back the trophy as they came out of their
meagre 1-0 victory margin to pound Togo 3-0. In
explaining that skipper Rigobert Song said: “It is
not really a revenge for the 1-0 defeat we suffered
from Togo in the 2000 Nations Cup finals. It is part
of our ambition to finish with 9 points from three
group games. We wanted to win all our games in order
to scare future opponents”.
On why the Lions won the other games by only one nil
margins, Song said the main problem the Lions faced
was that their opponents played closed and defensive
games. “Proof, when the Togolese opened up the game in
the second half, we got them cheap and scored three
goals”, Song explained.
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