...Rumours are rife of a return of clannish tendencies within the Lions.

Faced with insistent rumours that some players like Njie Clinton and Georges Mandjeck are being sidelined from the team for not being in the captain’s good books, the president of the Normalisation Committee of FECAFOOT, yesterday granted a press conference to dispel the rumour and clarify the public.

“There is no conflict between Mbia and whosoever in the national team,” said Joseph Owona. “There is no political player either. They are all Cameroonians", he added. He said Cameroon will field the best players in the last encounter against Cote d’Ivoire so as to obtained victory.

Meanwhile, the Lions had a light training session on Sunday at the La Paz stadium in Malabo. Yesterday, they underwent massaging and muscular training in the morning before the training session in the afternoon. Another training session is scheduled this morning before the traditional pre-match conference later in the evening. The Lions now have their backs to the wall as they absolutely need a victory to stay in the competition.

According to CAF, in case of parity on the last day of play, the teams which would have scored more goals even in the case of parity will qualify for the next stage of the competition. That is, if Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire play a 2-2 draw and Mali and Guinea play a 1-1 draw, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire will automatically qualify.