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Indomitable Lions: The Challenges of Arie Haan (21.08.2006)
Cameroonians expect the Dutchman and his staff to rekindle the dwindling image of Cameroon’s national football team.
The suspense is over. Last Friday evening, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Philippe Mbarga Mboa, appointed the technical staff of the national football team, the Indomitable Lions, ending six months of waiting and speculations. Fifty-seven-year-old Dutch football manager, Arie Haan, was chosen to captain the ship of the Lions. The same text assigns another Dutch, De Jong Theodurus Jacob, as first assistant coach and Jules Frédéric Nyongha, who has been interim since the resignation of Portuguese-born Artur Jorge, as second assistant. Veteran Thomas Nkono returns as goalkeeper trainer after his first experience from 1999 and 2000. Yannick Noah comes in as the Technical Adviser of the team.
The challenges ahead for Arie Haan and his men are enormous. They have the daunting task of reinstilling the winning spirit in the Lions; make them indomitable. For over three years now, Cameroonians have not had the opportunity to celebrate around their team. The last victory of the senior national football team was in 2002 in Mali when they grabbed the African Cup of Nations for the fourth time. That same year, they put on a dismal performance at the World Cup in Korea/Japan as they were eliminated in the first round. In the 2003 Confederation Cup in France, the Lion spirit took the team to the final. But in 2004, Cameroon as defending champions crashed out of the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia at the quarter finals. Thereafter, the Indomitable Lions failed to qualify for 2006 World Cup in Germany. It was a very big blow to Cameroonians who for more than a decade had been used to seeing their darling team on the world stage. The Lions were however present in Egypt for the Nations Cup but once more failed to move beyond the quarter finals.
Arie Haan therefore has no right to make mistakes. Cameroonians expect results and nothing more. If we have to go by the communique issued after the crisis meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, Head of Goverment, Ephraim Inoni some 18 days ago, then Government is bent on providing condusive working condition for the enw team. And it is not the expreince that is lacking. The team is
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armed for the task. As professional players, the four members of the technical squad left their marks with their national teams and clubs. Having spent the last 22 years of his life managing clubs in his native Holland, then Belgium, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Austria and Iran, head coach Arie Haan definitely has experience. True, he has coached only one national football team (China from December 2002 to November 2004) and is into his first experience in Africa, but he is not completely unknown in the world of football. These experience notwithstanding, Arie Haan will need a dose of patience to and lots of tact to handle the Cameroonian equation. Minimum autonomy is definitely required if Haan must produce the results awaited by Cameroonians. Past experiences have proven that having a free hand to exercise their functions has been among the greatest headaches of Cameroon’s coaches. The case of veteran Artur Jorge, whose technicity was undisputed, is still fresh in our mind.
Arie Haan also has to look beyond the immediate results and put in place strategies for the future of the team. True, it is not yet certain for how long he would manage the Indomitable Lions. His immediate task will be to win the 2008 African Cup of Nations. This has to start by qualifying the team for the competition. Similarly, to ensure a long term vision for the squad, rejuvination is indispensable. Most of the players of the national football team will have past their career peak periods by 2010 when the World Cup comes to Africa for the first time. Hunting for new talents who can qualify Cameroon for the competition is therefore a must. Luckily, Arie Haan and his assistants will be taking up residence in Cameroon. Local players, who have for long been sidelined from the national selection can start nurturing real hopes of joining the squad.
There will be no time to rest for Haan and his men. His first major assignment is on September 3, when the Indomitable Lions face Rwanda in Kigali for the start of the 2008 Nations Cup qualifying campaign. Prior to that, he would have the opportunity to meet his boys in a training camp in Nairobi, Kenya as from August 29th. Cameroon, pooled in Group 5, will also play against Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Rwanda in the eliminatories.
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