By John Essien
Cameroon FA President Samuel Eto’o has set a semi-final target for the Lionesses in the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (Wafcon) that starts on July 2 in Morocco.
Cameroon are in Group B alongside Zambia, Tunisia and Togo.
Following the Indomitable Lionesses 4-0 loss to France in a friendly match on Saturday, Eto’o who expressed disappointment at the team’s performance, hopes the squad absorbed valuable lessons to take into the tournament.
“Sincerely, if I tell you that I was awaiting a victory for us, I would be lying. You’ll play many matches like this,” Eto’o told the players after the match.
“For me, you’re the best in Africa, but that’s not the dream I have for you. It is here that I await you because in Africa we will be in at least the semi-finals. The real challenge is here, it’s the next World Cup,” added the former Indomitable Lions captain.
“And like I was telling the representative of the president of French Football Federation; I wish that we also play France in Yaounde. We will have to participate in all the big tournaments that have teams that are currently better than us,” the former Inter Milan and Chelsea striker added.
The Lionesses will open their Wafcon campaign on July 3 against Zambia before a meeting with Togo three days later and end the group phase after taking on Tunisia on July 9.
The Lionesses have, however, never been crowned Africa’s finest after losing finals in 1991, 2004, 2014 and 2016.
Cameroon will be hoping to go beyond their semi-final berth in the last edition held in Ghana in 2018, where they finished third.
