“That was 2008. Now we are in 2010 and it is a different ball game entirely. I think it will be wrong to approach the match with revenge in mind. That will blind us to the reality of the situation. In 2008, we lost to them and that is gone. Now we have to look at them from the eyes of the present”
“I know that Camerounians especially expect a lot from us, but we should learn to develop the mentality of accepting that in sports you cannot win all the time. Whenever teams play against us, they come prepared and determined. I believe this was the case in Lubango where all the teams that played against us, came prepared”
“I may be wrong, but we also noticed that the coach was trying to give everybody a chance to feature and that occasionally made us start every match from a fresh perspective.
“Lubango group was not easy. Zambia, Gabon and Tunisia are great football playing nations and respect should be accorded them.”
Asked to look at the repeated case of the team conceding quick goals, the inspirational midfielder said it was lack of concentration. “The lesson we have learnt that a team like Cameroun should be alert at all times. The moment you lose concentration, you are punished”
Would he have preferred to face Nigeria in the quarter finals instead of Egypt? “ We do not have any preference. They are both great teams in Africa and world football. There was a time we thought we were going to play Nigeria, then word came that we are facing Egypt, so we have removed Nigeria from our system. We know we are facing Egypt and that is that. We are professionals, we take every match as it comes. I leave tactics and technics to the coaches. They are the ones to determine who plays and how we play”
Reminded that the Benguela weather may be harsh on them, hot and different from the cool weather of Lubango advantage Egypt, he said he has not been to Benguela before and is not in a position to talk about the weather there.
New boy Mandjeck Constant who plays with Kaiserslautern in the German Bundesliga,also attracted media attention and said he was delighted to play in a Camerounian team that had a collection of world stars.
With skipper Etoo Fils conspicuously missing in training, (Said to be resting) the team went through a light work out and loosening up exercises around the field led by Geremie Njitap, before leaving for Benguela where they will meet Egypt in a quarter final encounter on Monday.
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