The pride of Cameroon’s ‘Indomitable Lions’

A golden moment Cameroon defeated Spain to become Olympic soccer champions at the Sidney games.

Soccer is far and away the number one sport in most countries of the world. But in Cameroon people seem to take a special delight in the game. The national team is the pride of all Cameroonians, and its remarkable achievements have earned the team the nickname “the Indomitable Lions.”
The most powerful national teams of Europe and Latin America have been tamed at one time or another by the dashing, dazzling and often unorthodox play of this big team from little Cameroon.

The Sydney Olympic Games may have been held over a year ago, but in Cameroon it seems like only yesterday that the Lions snatched the gold medal from Spain in a nail-biting penalty shoot-off, after the 90-minute regulation period of play ended in a 2-2 tie that remained unbroken in the sudden-death overtime. That historic triumph, celebrated with abandon throughout the country, came only months after Cameroon had won the African Nations’ Cup -for the third time.

ON THE BALL Spain-based Samuel Eto’o is one of several Cameroonian stars playing in Europe.

As prime minister Musonge, without any false modesty, says about his country’s soccer prowess: “Cameroonians are talented people. At the African level we are the best.”
The Lions now have their sights set on the next World Cup, in 2002. They have made it through to every World Cup but one since 1982, and in 1990, in Italy, they became the first African team to go through to the quarter finals.
The importance of the Indomitable Lions goes far beyond the realm of sports: the team has become a symbol of national identity.
Cameroonians may speak English or French or one of dozens of local languages, they may profess Christianity, Islam, or indigenous African religions, they may live in remote villages or major cities, sweep streets for a living or head the government, but they all have one thing in common: they are all fans of the Indomitable Lions.