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29.06.2020
Foe called his final Cameroon match the ´game of death,´ claims ex-Manchester City defender Mettomo
Michael Madyira
Lucien Mettomo was the late Indomitable Lions midfielder’s hotel roommate and narrates in greater detail his teammate’s final moments alive
Former Cameroon defender Lucien Mettomo has revealed that fallen Cameroon legend Marc-Vivien Foe “felt a little tired” on the eve of the fateful 2003 Fifa Confederations Cup match against Colombia.
Foe collapsed and died of heart failure during the semi-final encounter against the South Americans at Stade de Gerland in Lyon on June 26, 2003.
Mettomo who was also Foe’s teammate at Manchester City shared a room with the late midfielder at the Saint-Etienne hotel where Cameroon stayed.
“We were in Saint-Etienne, and Marc felt a little tired, he had a stomach bug, but nothing really to be worried about,” Mettomo told Radio Sport Info.
“Besides, during the day he trained normally, he went to the massage room, all that is most normal. He always had his plate of fruit close at hand.
"The morning of the match I woke up earlier than him, I went to have breakfast, he went to see the physiotherapist directly and we found ourselves at lunchtime.
“After the meal, we returned to our room. I fell asleep a little and it was he who woke me up to tell me that it was time to meet the others for the stadium. While he was dressing up, I packed our things in the bag that we both shared.
“And when we left [the hotel], he says to me ‘Lucien, today is the match of death, if someone has to die, it is today.’
"At the time, nothing special because he simply wanted to say that this semi-final against Colombia was the moment to make an impression on the world level as we wished.
“But with hindsight and the years that followed, I tell myself that this statement sounded like a premonition.”
It was a statement Foe was to repeat on the team bus on their way to Stade de Gerland and said it again at half-time in the dressing room.
Cameroon took the lead nine minutes into the match through Pius N’Diefi and Foe was shown a yellow card on 23 minutes.
“[The match was going] pretty good since we lead 1-0 at the break. In the dressing room, we had to settle the debate on the marking of a Colombian striker who moved a lot,” continued Mettomo.
“Rigo [Rigobert Song] wanted an individual marking and I wanted us to play in zone marking. Marco settled the debate by asking Rigo to man-mark the Colombian. I had to stay on the cover.
“After that, he [Foe] got up and called out to all the other players about the fact that we had 45 minutes left to write history and that if someone had to die on the stadium, well, it should happen.”
Four minutes after Bill Tchato was red-carded, tragedy then struck in the 73rd minute as the Indomitable Lions were trying to defend their lead with 10 men.
Foe fell to the ground and never stood up again.
“It’s Eric Djemba [Djemba] who tells us that Marco is down. Doctors came onto the pitch and carried him out. At this point, we do not measure the gravity of what has just happened,” Mettomo added.
“When the match ended, it was the euphoria of qualifying for the final. ...but the physical trainer tells us that Marco had a problem. So I decided to go to the treatment room and on my way, I met Salomon Olembe in tears like the doctor of Olympique Lyonnais at the time. I saw the body of Marco lying, lifeless.”
Cameroon had defied their numerical disadvantage to hold on and claim victory and stormed into the final where they faced hosts France.
Then-Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer is said to have intended to substitute Foe a few minutes before he collapsed after noticing that the player appeared fatigued.
Back at the hotel, emotions got the better of a traumatised Mettomo who could not take it in that his close friend had died.
“[The return to Saint Etienne was] very heavy. I remember that when I got back to the hotel room, the most painful moment was when I opened the bag I shared with Marc-Vivien and I had to unpack his things,” said Mettomo.
“I left the door open and it was Joel Epalle who was passing by who came in and asked me what´s going on. I´ll tell him ‘Joel I´m waiting for Marco.’ This answer pushed Joel and he went to alert the staff that I had a problem.”
Psychologically devastated, both the Indomitable Lions and France contemplated skipping the Confederations Cup final but Foe’s widow Marie Louise convinced them to fulfil the fixture.
The death of Foe attracted global sympathy and Cameroon went on to lose the emotional final 1-0 after an extra-time golden goal from Thierry Henry.
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