OH the pleasure of playing without pressure!
We all know what it did for Mamelodi Sundowns in the Caf Champions League last year.
And in capturing the continental title, the Brazilians had been inspired by Denmark’s surprise European Championship success of 1992.
Both these teams had actually not qualified for the events but got in via the backdoor. And with no one expecting much of them, they enjoyed playing the tournaments sans the glare of high expectations and went on and became champions.
It was the same this weekend as the Indomitable Lions captured the Africa Cup of Nations. Not even a staunch Cameroon supporter would have put their money on their team winning the title at Gabon 2017.
Not when their team suffered withdrawals of some key players just before the tournament to force coach Hugo Broos to bring in last minute replacements. Eric Choupo-Moting retired, Joel Matip pulled out and Andre Onana also made himself unavailable.
Surely there was no way Cameroon were going to overcome favourites Senegal, Ghana and Algeria?
Belgian Broos didn’t make any bold pronouncements either and to most, Cameroon were merely in the tournament to gain experience for the next edition of the biennial continental showpiece they’ll be hosting in 2019.
Goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa is merely a 21-year-old, and literally clubless as a reserve goalkeeper at Sevilla. But the performances he dished out would have fooled you into thinking he was a seasoned campaigner.
Ditto for Christian Bassogog, another 21-year-old, whose showings were so brilliant he was named the tournament’s best player.
And that they and their teammates played as well as they did was because they had very little to lose, with no one expecting much of them.Not so for the likes of star-studded Senegal and Ghana. Yet it was these two highly-rated teams that Cameroon got the better of in the knockout phase en route to the final.
There they met an Egyptian side that was also playing with very little pressure the Pharaohs only too glad to be back at the tournament for the first time since 2010 when they clinched their third successive title for their seventh win.
In the final, even with their greats Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o looking on, Cameroon were not really expected to win, not against an Egyptian side that had beaten them in the 2008 final.
That freed them to play with pleasure instead of pressure. And the result was a magnificent triumph. Watch them struggle when the pressure is on as they host Afcon in 2019.