Jonathan Wilson: Le Guen's Lions roaring to go against Gabon

Jonathan Wilson / Jonathan Wilson / 03 September 2009 / Leave a Comment

"If Cameroon beat Gabon on Saturday and go on to beat them again in Yaounde the following Wednesday, they could be top of the group..."

On Saturday, Libreville will host what is surely the biggest game in Gabon's footballing history, but they may end up regretting not having played it three months ago, writes Jonathan Wilson as he looks at the pick of the weekend's African World Cup Qualifiers.

Gabon's World Cup qualifier against Cameroon was originally scheduled for June, at which time Gabon were flying and Cameroon were sinking, befuddled in their thinking and devoid of confidence. But then President Omar Bongo died, and the game was postponed for his funeral. Of course, the desire to respect the passing of a much-loved leader is understandable, but the decision may end up hurting Gabon in football terms - they are [3.5] to win; Cameroon [2.24].

Back then, Alain Giresse's side had momentum having beaten Morocco 2-1 away, and then thrashed Togo 3-0 at home. "This is the reward for a squad that's played together for the last five or six years," said Gabon's goalkeeper Dider Ovono. "We've had a winning mentality since playing at youth level. We go into every game as if we were playing the World Cup Final. Game after game we scrap as if our lives depend on it. It's our collective strength that carries us through."

Given Otto Pfister had walked out on Cameroon a week earlier, they were favourites to win and effectively end the Lions' hopes of qualifying for South Africa. Since then a new Minister of Sport has been appointed, and he in turn appointed the former Lyon, Rangers and PSG coach Paul Le Guen as Pfister's replacement. Samuel Eto'o, named as captain ahead of Rigobert Song, has spoken of "a feeling of breathing new air" around the team, but the sense of expectation could become stifling.

Le Guen was welcomed into Yaounde by 2000 dancers, and a three-day banquet costing over £200,000 was held in his honour. The newspaper Le Messager has already asked whether that was really necessary, suggesting the appointment was made less for footballing reasons than because the sports ministry wanted the prestige of a well-known European coach.

It is a type of thinking that has hampered African football before. While there have been a number of European coaches who have had success on the continent - Winfried Schafer, for instance, led Cameroon to back-to-back Cups of Nations - there are even more who have failed.

Berti Vogts, for instance, was a disaster as coach of Nigeria, failing to adapt in any way to the demands of African football.

Le Guen seems a more cosmopolitan man than Vogts, but he struggled even to come to terms with life at Rangers after his supremely successful time at Lyon. What is all but certain, though, is that he will not allow the press to undermine him as Vogts did. For one thing, the Cameroonian media is not so virulent as that in Nigeria, and for another, he has perfected the polite but blank look, the ability to say absolutely nothing and mask his feelings without causing offence, whereas Vogts quickly became counterproductively sarcastic.

His squad is not as strong as that which made Cameroon the best side in Africa in the early part of the decade, but with the likes of Eto'o, Sebastian Bassong and Alexandre Song to call on, there is no reason to believe they cannot recover. Still, Le Guen faces a major task, for if his side lose in Libreville, they are eight points adrift and as good as out. If they beat Gabon, though, and go on to beat them again in Yaounde the following Wednesday, they could be top of the group, depending what happens in Sunday's game between Togo and Morocco in Lome - Togo are [2.2]; Morocco [3.2].

The other big game in African qualifying sees Nigeria [1.83] host Tunisia [4.7]. The Tunisians are two points clear at the top of the group, but Nigeria have already secured a draw in Rades meaning a victory in Abuja would put them in command of the group with just a home game against Mozambique and a trip to Kenya to come.

Nigeria's coach Shuaibu Amodu has omitted Yakubu and Obafemi Martins from his squad as he awaits their return to full match fitness, which means Hoffenheim's Chinedu Obasi could be given a rare start at centre-forward.

The inconsistent African champions Egypt travel to Rwanda, where defeat against an improving side could effectively eliminate them [they are 1.76 to win; 5.3 to lose], should Algeria beat Zambia at home [1.43] on Sunday. The Algerians would then be six points clear with two games remaining, and on course for their first World Cup since 1986.