Cameroon’s great Eto’o woos fans for match against Kenya

The president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), Samuel Eto'o Fils, has offered 500 entry tickets to students of a secondary school in Yaounde for Friday's 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Kenya's Harambee Stars at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium.

Eto’o made the donation during a visit to Collège Saint Benoît, a secondary institution of learning of the Catholic Archdiocese of Yaounde Thursday, the school principal, Reverend Father Jacques Katchire Konan confirmed in a press release.

“Parents will have to confirm the participation of their children) by a written note no later than Friday (today) morning,” the principal said in a release, explaining that buses will be available for transportation of students to and from the stadium.

Cameroon host Kenya in round three of the qualifiers at 5pm local time (7pm Kenyan time), with the return leg three days later at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda. The Kenyan contingent arrived in Yaounde yesterday. 

Both Cameroon and Kenya remain undefeated in Group 'J' and are level on four points with Kenya in second place, while the Lions are third. Zimbabwe went top of the group Thursday after a 1-0 win over Namibia at the Orlando Stadium in South Africa. Zimbabwe are on five points, while Namibia remain bottom with no points after three matches.

Cameroon kicked off proceedings with a 1-0 victory over Namibia at home, but failed to maintain their winning streak after sharing spoils with Zimbabwe following a goalless draw in Kampala, Uganda on September 10.

Kenya, on their part, started their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe, before narrowly edging Namibia 2-1 in their second match.

Football authorities in Cameroon have called on fans to throng the 42,500-seat capacity Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium to cheer captain Vincent Aboubakar and his teammates to victory.

The fans are upbeat that Cameroon will win, a victory which some of the fans say will be used to celebrate a happy end of the conflict between the Cameroon FA and the Sports Ministry, over the appointment of the new technical bench led by Belgian coach Marc Brys.

“Cameroon will win, with a goal from Carlos Baleba,” said Angel Ngwe, a fan, who reckons Kenya is not a very strong side compared to Cameroon. 

“I don’t know any Kenyan football players, but I know marathoners there,” she said.

Both teams had a feel of the match venue Thursday evening.