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Cameroon test for Boyz
November 09, 2022
The first-ever football clash between Jamaica's Reggae Boyz and Cameroon's Indomitable Lions takes place today at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde, Cameroon. Kick off is set for noon Jamaica time.
The game will be a clash between two locally based squads and several overseas-based professionals will be missing.
Although the Reggae Boyz's Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson believes the Cameroon Elite One league is ahead of the local Jamaica Premier League in quality of play, he hopes the professionalism and hard work of the local Jamaican players will make them competitive.
"It is my feeling that it (Elite One) is stronger than the league in Jamaica. Their players are physical, aggressive and fast, so I believe we will face a very strong motivated group of guys. That is going to be a real test for our local players," he said.
Nevertheless, he is pleased with the application of the local Boyz since their arrival in west Africa.
"We have got in the local players a group of honest guys trying their best. They should be respected. They made a long journey to play and represent their country, so I give them a lot of credit.
"It is going to be a tough match for them, so give them credit for working hard in training, being professional in taking on things we have put forward.
"They have been professional in everything they have done so far. We will see overall how the game will be played but for now I can give them only credit," he commented.
The new coach, who took over from Paul Hall in September, promises no surprises to today's starting line-up but he hopes to give as many players as possible game time.
"We are working to improve the players in the future and this is the future of Jamaica national team.
"There will be no surprises in the starting line-up. We have 18 players, hopefully we can give them all some minutes but we will see how the game is played," he stated.
The game will be Cameroon's penultimate warm-up match ahead of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, although the home team has a local- based squad, Hallgrimsson is expecting a fully charged atmosphere for the encounter.
"We really don't know about the Cameroon team. Coach Rigobert Song will pick three players from this local squad to go to the World Cup.
"They have a lot to fight for and a lot to show. There is a lot of hype for the national team for the World Cup, so we will face not only highly motivated opponents with individual skills, they will have a lot of people supporting them to give them a big send-off to Qatar.
"It is going to be interesting how we can cope with the Cameroon team and the circumstances and atmosphere," he said. The Reggae Boyz have won just once in their last five games. In their last match on September 27 they were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in a friendly played in the United States. Cameroon are also coming off a loss in their last match, a 1-0 loss to South Korea.
