Barely arrived in Cameroon, Marc Brys has already achieved a feat. Usually eager to guess the coaches’ compositions, journalists will be more concerned this Saturday with the bench than with the starting eleven of the Indomitable Lions against Cape Verde. The fault of Samuel Eto’o who threatened to accredit, for this World Cup qualifier, only the Belgian technician without his assistants, including Joachim Mununga.
How did we get here ? “I’ve been in this profession for 26 years and I’ve never seen this,” our compatriot railed. If he is going through hell, it is because he does not represent Eto’o’s choice. Placed under supervision by Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, the Minister of Sports, since the failure of the selection at the last Can in the round of 16 and the dismissal of Rigobert Song, the African legend uses his power and his still numerous influences to lead life lasts in Brys, named by the state. As proof, Patrick Mbomba shared a tweet supporting his former teammate in the selection. “Marc Brys believes he understood Cameroonian football by speaking to Samuel Eto’o. I take it that we didn’t explain it to him really well. Just saying…”
“I am not losing sleep over his intimidating behavior,” certified the former T1 of Louvain, targeting his president.
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I’m not losing sleep over his bullying behavior.
However, it would not have been abnormal for the ex-police officer to suffer from insomnia. Eto’o first appointed his own staff. “The National Football Federation cannot recognize this appointment, which was made outside of any legal or regulatory framework,” said the press release the day after Brys’ appointment on April 9.
War is declared. After finally accepting the ministerial choice, Fécafoot, chaired by Eto’o, finally suspended Brys and his technical staff on May 21. Fortunately, the Antwerp resident has always been able to count on the support of President Paul Biya and his Minister of Sports. Without, however, the one who made the heyday of Barcelona and Inter Milan giving up.
The images went around the world. Last week, Brys and Eto’o meet. The clash cannot be avoided. “You are only a coach because I appointed you and no one else. You have experienced many failures,” he tells him. The sixty-year-old does not hesitate to answer him. “You’ve never been a coach or only three weeks.”
Words that did not please the one who is still considered a star in the country. His “I was a great player” was greeted with a cynical “Congratulations” from the Belgian.
”I’m the president here, you don’t talk to me like that. Do you think I could do that in Belgium?” concluded the native of Yaoundé. He returned to the charge by once again sidelining Brys to appoint his own coach, Martin Mpile. But the next day, do it again. Apologies and promises of appeasement.
It was without counting on a new turnaround when the national team reassembled. At the hotel, the players received no equipment, balls or training materials. Latest episode to date: this threat to leave Brys alone on his bench for the match against Cape Verde, his first. “Only the members of the technical management appointed by the FECAFOOT executive committee are those recognized by Fifa and authorized to receive the necessary accreditations. The direct consequence of this choice will be to have a sideline without assistants, without doctors, without physiotherapists and without team managers,” Eto’o justified in an infantile and astonishing press release.
“We will prove to the Cameroonian people that we are ready to fight for the country, even if there are people who want to upset us,” said the official coach. In any case, we bet that most observers will sit in front of the TV at 3 p.m. this Saturday to see if this surreal situation will unfold.
2024-06-08 09:12:00
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