Akono, Le Guen, Makélélé, Matthäus et al vying for Cameroon coaching job
Cameroonians are anxious to discover their 26th national team coach since 1980. The application was launched by the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) at mid-March, to shut down on the 24th of March, 2018.
The move followed the non-renewal of the contract of 2017 AFCON winner with the indomitable lions, Hugo Broos.
Sources close to FECAFOOT say quite a good number of applications have been received by the country’s football governing body. The files are believed to include those of prominent coaches like Paul Le Guen, Claude Makelele, Christian Gourcuff, Jean Paul Akono, Lothar Matthaus and Raymond Domenech. It is widely speculated that one of them could be replacing Mr Broos as Cameroon’s next coach. However, FECAFOOT are very unpredictable considering that the outgone Belgian had not been shortlisted among the five who were tipped to replace Volker Finke in 2016.
To begin with, 54-year-old Frenchman Paul Le Guen is gunning for his second spell having resigned after Cameroon lost all 3 group matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Bursaspor manager holds a rich Curriculum Vitae having coached Oman, PSG and Lyon. In fact, he recently turned down an offer by the Nigerian F.A. to become super Eagles’ technical director.
Former French midfielder, Claude Makélélé Sinda, is interested in the Cameroon coaching job. Makélélé is currently the head coach of Belgian side Eupen. In his illustrious playing career, the 45-year-old featured for PSG, Nantes, Marseille, Celta de Vigo, Real Madrid and Chelsea. He holds a promising coaching portfolio after spells with Bastia, PSG and Swansea.
Winner of the 2000 Olympics with Samuel Eto’o’s generation, Jean-Paul Akono, has not given up after he was disappointed in 2013. After working hard to qualify Cameroon for the 2014 World Cup, Volker Finke came from the blue to lead the indomitable lions to Brazil.
After managing teams like Bulgaria, Hungary and Red Bull Salzburg, the most capped German player, Lothar Herbert Matthäus, wants to do what fellow German Volker Finke did not do. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Matthäus was named the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year.
66-year-old retired French footballer Raymond Domenech is perhaps the oldest contender for the Lions’ job. Mr Domenech who is the coach of the Brittany national football team has managed several teams including Olympique Lyonnais and both France senior and junior squads.
Another Frenchman 62-year-old Christian Gourcuff is also trying his luck in Cameroon. Gourcuff has coached Lorient, Le Mans, Pont-L'Abbé, Stade Rennais and Al-Ittihad. On August 4, 2014, Gourcuff was officially unveiled as the new head coach of the Algeria national football team. He is considered in France as a shrewd tactician with a strong commitment to attacking football and an eye for young talents. Though he has applied to coach the indomitable lions, Christian Gourcuff was announced to be returning to ‘Ligue Un’ side Rennes on the 10th of May 2016. He is set to take over from manager Rolland Courbis at the end of the season.
A FECAFOOT committee is expected to examine all applications and publish a shortlist of three before the final appointment is made. This committee will make sure that applicants who may be locals or foreigners must, among other requirements, have a good knowledge of African football, be ready to permanently reside in Cameroon, have a good mastery of the English or French languages, and possess a feasible two-year draft work programme for the period 2018-2020.
The move followed the non-renewal of the contract of 2017 AFCON winner with the indomitable lions, Hugo Broos.
Sources close to FECAFOOT say quite a good number of applications have been received by the country’s football governing body. The files are believed to include those of prominent coaches like Paul Le Guen, Claude Makelele, Christian Gourcuff, Jean Paul Akono, Lothar Matthaus and Raymond Domenech. It is widely speculated that one of them could be replacing Mr Broos as Cameroon’s next coach. However, FECAFOOT are very unpredictable considering that the outgone Belgian had not been shortlisted among the five who were tipped to replace Volker Finke in 2016.
To begin with, 54-year-old Frenchman Paul Le Guen is gunning for his second spell having resigned after Cameroon lost all 3 group matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Bursaspor manager holds a rich Curriculum Vitae having coached Oman, PSG and Lyon. In fact, he recently turned down an offer by the Nigerian F.A. to become super Eagles’ technical director.
Former French midfielder, Claude Makélélé Sinda, is interested in the Cameroon coaching job. Makélélé is currently the head coach of Belgian side Eupen. In his illustrious playing career, the 45-year-old featured for PSG, Nantes, Marseille, Celta de Vigo, Real Madrid and Chelsea. He holds a promising coaching portfolio after spells with Bastia, PSG and Swansea.
Winner of the 2000 Olympics with Samuel Eto’o’s generation, Jean-Paul Akono, has not given up after he was disappointed in 2013. After working hard to qualify Cameroon for the 2014 World Cup, Volker Finke came from the blue to lead the indomitable lions to Brazil.
After managing teams like Bulgaria, Hungary and Red Bull Salzburg, the most capped German player, Lothar Herbert Matthäus, wants to do what fellow German Volker Finke did not do. After captaining West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Matthäus was named the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year.
66-year-old retired French footballer Raymond Domenech is perhaps the oldest contender for the Lions’ job. Mr Domenech who is the coach of the Brittany national football team has managed several teams including Olympique Lyonnais and both France senior and junior squads.
Another Frenchman 62-year-old Christian Gourcuff is also trying his luck in Cameroon. Gourcuff has coached Lorient, Le Mans, Pont-L'Abbé, Stade Rennais and Al-Ittihad. On August 4, 2014, Gourcuff was officially unveiled as the new head coach of the Algeria national football team. He is considered in France as a shrewd tactician with a strong commitment to attacking football and an eye for young talents. Though he has applied to coach the indomitable lions, Christian Gourcuff was announced to be returning to ‘Ligue Un’ side Rennes on the 10th of May 2016. He is set to take over from manager Rolland Courbis at the end of the season.
A FECAFOOT committee is expected to examine all applications and publish a shortlist of three before the final appointment is made. This committee will make sure that applicants who may be locals or foreigners must, among other requirements, have a good knowledge of African football, be ready to permanently reside in Cameroon, have a good mastery of the English or French languages, and possess a feasible two-year draft work programme for the period 2018-2020.
No comments