Chronic. Fifty years ago, I discovered Africa, this continent fantasized about since my childhood, at the heart of the political discussions of my father, eternal resistance fighter and fighter in all independence struggles. It was in December 1971. I was the attacker of AC Ajaccio and with some partners – Marius Trésor, Sansonetti, Dortomb -, we went to Congo Brazzaville to help our teammates M’Pelé and Balekita to prepare for the Coupe d. Africa of Nations (CAN) organized the following year… in Cameroon.
The Indomitable Lions have never hosted an African Cup. During this tournament, from Yaoundé to Bamenda, from Douala to Kribi, from Maroua to Bangangté, all over the country, the griots, the witch doctors, the “cooks” sang the praises of their Lions. How would a team which included in its ranks Joseph (so much adored when he was center-forward of Olympique Marseille), “the general” Ndoumbé, “the brain” Mvé, “the artist” Tokoto or “the rock” Akono would have it could have been struck down? Alas, the marabouts did not, it seems, invoke the elders enough. In the semi-final against Congo, a Red Devil scored in the 34e minute and instantly swallowed up the hopes of the whole nation.
Curious Cameroon-Brazil parallel
The trauma of March 2, 1972, is still told every day in the Bassas, Ewondos, Bamilékés, Doualas or Fulani huts of Cameroon. In the “maquis”, these neighborhood restaurants where you can taste chicken or braised fish, we tirelessly remake the history of the match. We point the finger at bad fetishists, the psychological fragility of some players, the international inexperience of Peter Schnittger, the remarkable German coach.
The parallel is often drawn with the final of the 1950 Brazil-Uruguay World Cup which the Seleção lost, thus defeating all forecasts, in front of the 200,000 spectators of the Maracana in a state of astonishment. And, again in 2014, for its second World Cup at home, Brazil will experience humiliation against Germany in the semifinals (1-7) at… Belo Horizonte, the misnamed. Second bitter failure.
Today, the closer the CAN deadline, the more the “fear” has set in to see history stutter, to experience the same fate as the Brazilians. We keep coming back to this curious Cameroon-Brazil parallel, two countries which, in terms of results, dominate the world, the other Africa. Moreover, just before the CAN, did the Indomitable Lions not atomize the Red Devils of Congo 7-1? The same score that saw Germany humiliate Brazil.
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