First goal in France for Tum and a great Emana with Toulouse

It should come as no surprise that Cameroon’s largest contingent of players in Europe is in France. Achille Emana was the biggest Cameroonian story in France this week. He played right side midfield in Toulouse’s 4-1 win over Strasbourg and his play earned him a place on the daily L’equipe’s “l’equipe type” (team of the week).

Herve Tum scored his first league goal in France for Metz in his club’s 2-1 win over Ajaccio. Modeste Mbami was solid in central midfield for PSG in their 2-2 draw with Caen. In the Lille v Marseille match, 3 Cameroonians saw action. Jean Makoun and Benoit Angbwa started for Lille at midfield and right back respectively and Salomon Olembe came on as a late sub (minute 87) for Marseille. Angbwa, however, was not on the field when Olembe entered as he received a direct red card for a foul he committed in the 84th minute. But before the red card, Angbwa was very strong, fast with a lot of physical and technical skills. Good news for indomitable Lions.

Angbwa wasn’t the only Cameroonian to see a red card this weekend in France as Jean Joel Perrier Doumbe also was red carded (as a result of collecting 2 yellow cards) in Rennes 3-1 loss to Perrier Doumbe’s former club Auxerre. Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Alexandre Song and Paul Essola both came on as second half substitutes in midfield for Bastia in their 1-1 tie with Nantes. England Cameroonians were involved in plenty of action during the opening weekend of action in the English Premier League. Lauren started at right back for defending champions Arsenal in his club’s 4-1 win over Everton. Lauren was very good in his right position. The biggest match up of the weekend was between Chelsea and Manchester United and Geremi Njitap and Eric Djemba-Djemba started in midfield for their respective clubs. Geremi set up the only goal of the game for Chelsea as he took advantage of open space given to him and carried the ball forward from his defensive half of the field until he crossed to Didier Drogba who headed the ball down for Eidur Gudjohnsen to score. Djemba-Djemba had a more quiet match at defensive midfield for Manchester United until he was subbed out of the game in the 72nd minute as his club went looking for more offense.

Joseph Desire Job started at forward for Middlesbrough as his club drew 2-2 with neighbors Newcastle United. Job was substituted out of the match at halftime. Thimothee Atouba made his debut for his new club Tottenham when he entered the game as a sub at left side midfield in minute 70 of Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool. Germany There were 3 Cameroonians active this weekend in Germany’s Bundesliga. Raymond Kalla started at centerback for Bochum in their 2-2 tie with Bayer Leverksuen. Meanwhile the Cameroonian pair of Lucien Mettomo and Bill Tchato started for Kaiserslautern in their club’s 2-1 loss to Schalke. Mettomo started at centerback while Tchato was at left sided midfielder/wing back. Tchato, however, was subbed out of the match in the 36th minute. Mohamadou Idrissou’s team Hannover did not play over the weekend but Idrissou is still injured (meniscus injury to his knee) and would not have been available even if Hannover had played. Turkey Turkey is quickly becoming a new destination for Cameroon’s players. Lions captain Rigobert Song plays for Galatasaray and he started at centerback this weekend as his club were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Gaziantepsor. The Indomitable Lions new goalkeeper Souleymanou Hamidou played this weekend as his team Denizlispor beat Sarkayaspor 2-1. Ankaragucu has 3 Cameroonians on its roster and 2 of them started this weekend in midfield in the team’s 0-0 draw with Istanbulspor. Both Herve Zengue and Jospeh Marie Tchango, who recently arrived in Turkey from Cameroon, played for the club from Turkey’s capital. Forward Jean Emmanuel Effa Owona did not play. Franco-cameroonian forward Claude Bakadal started at forward for his club Sebatspor in it’s 3-1 loss to Trabzonspor. Former Lions goalie Boukar Alioum appears to have fallen out of favor at his club Konyaspor as for the 2nd consecutive weekend he did not play. Belgium

Belgium is another country with a growing Cameroonian influence in it’s league. The Racing Genk v Mouscron match saw 3 Cameroonians playing. Eric Matoukou continued his impressive form at centerback for Racing Genk while his countryman Justice Wamfor is firmly established in the club’s midfield. Wamfor was forced to leave this weekend’s match with an ankle injury but it is not expected to be a serious injury and he may even be ready to play his club’s next match. Newcomer Patrice Noukeu started in midfield for Mouscron. Young forward Aloys Nong started for FC Brussels in their 1-0 loss to Lokeren while Franco-cameroonian midfielder Matthieu Assou-Ekoto started for La Louviere in the team’s 2-1 win over Cercle Bruges before being subbed out in the 68th minute. After 2 matches, La Louviere is one of only two clubs in Belgium with a maximum of six points. Sweden Former Lions left back Joseph Elanga started for Malmo in their 3-2 loss this past weekend to Sundsvall. The previous weekend, Elanga scored his first goal of the season as Malmo beat Trelleborgs 4-2. After 16 of 26 league matches, Malmo has a one point lead atop the Swedish league. Coutler Martin, martin@camfoot.com

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