Some 25 players of the female national football selection are currently undergoing training at the Fecafoot Technical Centre in Odza-Yaounde in preparation for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations to take place in Equatorial Guinea next month. The training camp which began on September 11th will run up to the 29th. It will be followed by a second training camp to begin on October 1st and end on October 14th. The third and last phase of the training begins on October 15th and ends with the departure of the Lionesses for Malabo on October 25, three days to the beginning of the tournament.

According to the coach of the Indomitable Lionesses, Enow Ngachu, the purpose of the first phase of the training programme, is to enable the injection of new blood into the squad as most of the players who took part in the London Olympic Games are playing professional football outside the country. The second phase of the training will include professionals and will consist of working on team cohesion and some friendly matches against some local sides will be played.

The third and decisive phase of the preparation will probably witness some friendly matches against serious sparring partners like South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana if the request of the coach is granted. Of the 23 players to be retained for this phase, 21 will be shortlisted to defend the national colours in Equatorial Guinea. However, the coach says not much change will be made on the team that defended the country at the All African Games in Maputo and the Olympic Games in London because the players have gathered a lot of experience.

The female Africa Cup of Nations begins on October 28th with Cameroon drawn in group B alongside Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Ethiopia. Sailing through the group stage will be a daunting task for Cameroon given that Cote d'Ivoire has been preparing for long for the competition and even organised a friendly tournament to enable the team to prepare well. Nigeria is one of the toughest countries in feminine football not only on the continent but also in the world. Ethiopia is no underdog given that they eliminated another heavy weight in feminine football on the continent, Ghana, in the qualifiers for the Equatorial Guinea expedition.