Early Wednesday morning, the indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon will take on Portugal’s Selecao for a place in the World Cup. Two teams with different characteristics but with the same ambition and qualification. Current forces, state of the art, tactical balance of power, Africa Foot United’s editorial team brings you the analysis grids for this attractive and eagerly awaited poster for all of Africa.
Cameroon – Portugal This Wednesday is the story of two contenders for a place in the concert of the best countries in the world. If Europe is already guaranteed to have 11 participants in the big block of world football, Africa currently has only 4. 12th for Europe or 5th for Africa, here’s the draw between Portugal and Cameroon in the play-off in Hamilton. Will Portugal, the 22nd country in the FIFA rankings, honor its ranking? Will Cameroon, ranked 58th, create a sensation by defeating their rivals to bid themselves a third consecutive qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Is the Cameroonian team has the ability to expel Portugal? decryption.
Shape condition!
Even if the two teams have not faced the same opponents in their last ten meetings, the case of the Portuguese and the Cameroonian provides minimal information about the level of the different teams.
In the last 10 meetings, Portugal has 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. Defeats against Sweden and the Netherlands, the world leaders in women’s football, conceded the third and eighth places respectively in the FIFA Women’s Ranking. Against other nations outside of the FIFA Top 10, the Seleção performs quite easily. Thus, Belgium (20th), New Zealand 24th, Costa Rica (37th) and Haiti (55th), all better ranked than Cameroon, suffered from Portugal’s law.
On the Cameroonian side, the results of the last ten meetings have been mixed. Vers Gabriel Szabo scored 11 goals, conceded 9 for 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. If the Lionesses logically bow out against France, the worry may lie in their inability to break the Nigerian glass ceiling, which Cameroon is still suffering from defeat at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. With the exception of Thailand, another 4 victories for the Ducks have been made against African rivals lower than Cameroon in the FIFA rankings. Draws against Togo (1-1) and Senegal (2-2), also ranked lower than Cameroon, provide information on the form of the Lionesses.
The forces are there!
The Portugal national team is a team made up of players who play in the vast majority of the Portuguese championship. Most of them rub shoulders at youth selections for the Portuguese national team, and even at clubs. In the next 11 squad that beat Haiti (5-0) in a friendly match on Friday, for example, 10 players play in the Portuguese first division. Only one (Ana Capita) plays for PSV Heindouven in the Netherlands, despite her training at Sporting Portugal where she has spent more than 10 years.
Not tall, the Portuguese are fast, physically strong and tactically smart. They also have the advantage of great cohesion in the game, due to their combined long club and selection experiences. Benfica Lisbon, Sporting Portugal and Braga are the three teams that provide the majority of the Portuguese national team.
In Indomitable Lionesses, the team is made up of a mix of the old guard led by Captain Gabriel Abode Ongeni, Fallon Mefumito, Estelle Johnson, Marie O’Reilly Owona, and Nchot Ajara, all in their 30s, along with young men knocking on the door. Monique Ngoc, Fatmatou Kumi and others from Brenda Tabb. A very heterogeneous team in its general structure, it has the disadvantage of great variance in the leagues as its players develop. Russia, Cameroon, the United States, Italy, France, Cameroonians come from different backgrounds. Athletically fair, tactically mediocre and physiologically frantic, the Cameroonian national team also has the disadvantages of its plight in the African region, which is not so difficult.
Tactical balance of power!
The question here is who will control the game, and to answer it, we must ask about the tactical position of the different heroes in their recent encounters. In this match, Portugal proves that they are a team that loves possession of the ball, because they have elements that are able to take it, by extricating themselves from the pressure of the opponent. With his lover, Dolores Silva (32 years old, Braga) ensures Portugal gets the ball. With her teammate Vanessa Malho and Benfica’s Andrea Morton, they form a trio experienced in possession of the ball, but above all capable of alternating direct play, especially with eccentric forwards Ana Capeta (right-handed playing left) and Jessica Silva ( left-handed play right).
The continuous surges of the breasts of Lucia Alves (left-hander with excellent quality to the center) and Ana Borges (right-hander who can develop as a winger or striker), make Seleção a formidable team in an attacking transition.
Portugal also has the peculiarity of knowing how to divert their opponent’s attention to one side with a passing game in a triangle (side, winger, midfielder) to quickly overthrow the opposite side and draw a conclusion thanks to the skill of Diana Silva, Sporting striker. . This kind of stage is a carbon copy of the first goal he scored against Haiti with Jessica Silva at the end.
On the Cameroonian side, it is a game that is still looking for benchmarks. It seems that the coach’s desire to own the ball conflicts with the technical and tactical level of the ordinary players. Thus, Gabriel Zabo has tried 3 different game systems over the last 5 games. If the 3-5-2 gives more satisfaction especially against Tunisia (2-0) and against Thailand (2-0), it will still put them under a more difficult ordeal.
Sometimes in the face of a strong adversity from the Cameroonian side, one feels the lack of tactics (strategy). Individual technique often seems too weak, and collective mastery is achieved. But against Thailand, we saw the beginnings of an ambitious team in their attack animations, with adventurous presses (Ndzana and Mifumito). But all this, if not applied and disciplined more strictly, could sink in the face of the speed of the Portuguese flankers. The other big unknown on the Cameroonian side is the goalkeeper’s position, because the defending champions are suspended, we’re in a bit of an unknown with his two substitutes, Aungmahan and Biya.
So who will win?
The outcome of the football match is still a mystery. Generally irrational and above all uncertain, the football match is analyzed through rational elements. In terms of space, Portugal’s advantage is in form, due to their seven wins in their last 10 matches. The opposing forces, taken individually, also leave a slight advantage to Portugal, due to the homogeneity of its labor force, which gives it better cohesion and collective control. Du point de vue strictement rationnel, le rapport de force tactique devrait tourner in favor of Portugal qui devrait avoir le control du jeu. Toute chose qui, ne garantit point la victoire finale, du fait du caractère irrationnel et incertain de l’issue d’ football matches.
Cameroon must approach the meeting with a lot of humility in mind, notably not taking the relatively easy win over Thailand as a yardstick or reference, but above all as a clinical one in the end zone.
