Pool A : Between Experience, Exuberance

Football fans within and without Cameroon will have a time with history when the Indomitable Lions and Pool A mates get down the Olembe stadium to showcase football made in Africa once the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 begins on January 9, 2022. The draws for the 33rd edition of the continental football fiesta made in Yaounde yesterday August 17, 2021 ignites high expectations in supporters of the respective countries and even football analysts, looking at the calibre of teams to confront each other. 
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, five-time African champions, may not look very serious on the pitch at moment but the path covered with experience garnered by past generations make the team dreaded by any opponent. When her opponents come calling next year with the objective of taming the Lions and sailing through to the next level of the competition, the Cameroon national football team will certainly have double challenges to surmount: Reinvigorating the lion spirit and benefitting from the home crowd; popularly known as the ‘12th player,’ to secure hope-raising wins.   The pressure will certainly be high on the team and the competition’s opener will pit Cameroon against Burkina Faso on January 9, 2022. 
Cameroon’s first opponent in the competition, Burkina Faso, are no pushovers in African football. Known as the Stallions, the team might not pride itself of any AFCON trophy, but her performance in past editions suggests they will be coming to Cameroon to make history. In 1984, the team finished fourth and reached the final in 2013. 
Pooling Cameroon alongside Cape Verde was certainly an intriguing pair and confrontation between the two nations has never been won beforehand. The Blue Sharks will be coming to Cameroon with renewed ambitions after missing out on the last two editions. Having posed serious problems to the Indomitable Lions in the qualifiers, wining an emphatic 3-1 at home to finally finish second behind Came...