Cameroon vs Cape Verde Islands

Prior to its first meeting with Cameroon, the Cape Verde Islands were hardly a force in African football. Now, after climbing up the ranks in the world ranking, the Cape Verde Islands look to deny Cameroon a spot at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Cape Verde Islands made news prior to the 2010 FIF A World Cup: often regarded as one of the minnows in African football, the country had its finest hour came in Portugal: ranked 117^th in the world at the time, Cape Verde Islands held a full-strength Portugal squad, ranked third, to a scoreless draw.

However, with a variety of timely goals and good goalkeeping, that scoreless draw would be no fluke. Cape Verde Islands began AFCON 2012 qualifying with a stunning 1-0 upset of Mali, with the only goal scored by Fernando Varela. Heldon Ramos led the team in scoring, as his two goals came at home against Liberia in the third qualifier. Although the country won two of its first three qualifiers, the Cape Verde Islands suffered a setback as Mali avenged its loss earlier with a 3-0 victory. Ultimately, despite being tied with Sudan for one of the runners-up spots, the Cape Verde Islands were eliminated by virtue of goal differential.

Cameroon is looking to return back to the tournament after failing to reach an AFCON tournament for the first time since 1994. In qualifying for AFCON 2012, Cameroon’s all-time scorer Samuel Eto’o netted four goals and another three came from Eric Choupo-Moting. Yet, Cameroon finished second behind Senegal. Cameroon scored 12 goals in AFCON 2012 qualifying, but none against Senegal: the main different was a late winner for Senegal when both countries met first in March 2011.

Cameroon is looking to return back to its finest period in its football history: between 1982 and 2002. During that period, Cameroon have won four AFCON titles, reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and participated in two FIFA Confederation Cups, the second most remember for the death of one of its players Marc Vivien-Foe.

Cameroon and Cape Verde Islands have only met in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (doubled with that of AFCON 2010). In the second round of qualifying for the tournaments, Cameroon won both meetings: 2-0 at home and a 2-1 come from behind victory on the road. Those results would ultimately help Cameroon reach AFCON 2010, as well as its sixth FIFA World Cup.

Both teams played in first round playoffs. Cape Verde Islands made light work Madagascar, winning 4-0 and 3-1 away and home, respectively. Meanwhile, Cameroon had difficulty scoring against Guinea-Bissau, winning two 1-0 games with two late goals: the first from Choupo-Moting and the second from Benjamin Moukandjo.

Yet, the Cape Verde Islands are in danger of missing out on the FIFA World Cup, after two 2-1 losses in in Sierra Leone and at home against Tunisia. Cameroon, on the other hand, played two friendlies (2-1 loss against, followed by a victory against Guinea by the same score) and two World Cup qualifiers: a 1-0 victory against Congo DR and a 2-1 loss against Libya.

Can Cameroon recover from its hiccups, defeat the Cape Verde Islands and return back to Africa’s premier competition? The answer will come this October.