The cadet Lions, 2003 Champions, yesterday defeated the Stallions of Burkina Faso 2-0 during their first leg qualifier game for the African Nations Cup in Algeria.

The Lions started the game on a good footing scoring 7minutes into the encounter through Armel Nguene II. Dominating the encounter for the most past, squandering scoring chances, the Lions came back to a lacklustre second half but, Ngede Ngede Junior injected steam and changed the game when he replaced the lanky Ndam Fouapon.

Mounting pressure, the Lions increased the tally through Amang A kegneni at the 75th minute to the delight of the spectators. After the encounter, cadet lions coach, Joseph Atangana was satisfied with the performance of the squad.

“We can only be happy because building up a cadet team in Cameroon is not an easy task. We are satisfied to have scored two goals against a team that existed before like the Burkina Faso, so, we can only doff our hats to the players”.

He said the stallions were morphologically matured, but this does not tint their actual quality. West Africa has a culture of football and we have to take them seriously for the return match, he added. The coach said he needs more time to put in cohesion into the team and would put up a strategy to preserve the two goals during the return leg.

“The way to defend would be to attack, we are not going to Burkina Faso to defend, but to score first and put the stallions into difficulty, he said. He however urged the authorities to provide the resources and logistics support to help him build the team.

The team captain, Hongla Yma II for his part said, “We could have done better, the game was not so easy and the return match would be tough”.

He argued that playing at home; Burkina Faso would want to win. But, are going to put in our best to win and qualify for the next stage, he reiterated. Meanwhile, before the kick-off, the Minster of Sports and Physical Education, Adoum Garoua in the Cameroon tradition of hospitality presented a gift to the Burkina Faso delegation.

Fecafoot Secretary General also presented a gift to the representative of the Burkina Faso football federation.