The Cameroonian delegation for the U-17 FIFA World Cup arrived Golden Tulip Hotel in the Seaside resort city of Victoria on October 22, 2019. Victoria; State capital of Espirito Santo located in Southeastern Brazil will host Pool E matches. Cameroon shares the pool with Tajikistan, Spain and Argentina.

The Kléber Andrade Satdium, which will host all encounters, is located 15 km from Victoria’s city center. Steve Mvoue and his teammates hope to write a new, beautiful and golden page in the history of their generation in this arena in a football nation like Brazil.

The U-17 Lions are expected to continue training at the Estiva training camp; a 20 minutes’ drive from their hotel ahead of the first confrontation with Tajikistan on October 28 at midnight Cameroon time (8pm local time).

It should be recalled that the U-17 Lions started preparations with the UEFA Assist Tournament in Turkey from September 21-26 2019. The delegation returned to Cameroon on September 27, before leaving from Yaounde on the 1st of October for Brasilia. The delegation composed of 38 persons, 28 players and 10 coaches arrived the Brisa Tower hotel on October 3, 2019. It is in this Brazilian city that most of the preparation took place under the supervision of trainer Thomas Libiih.

For over two weeks, the team trained at the Estadio Serejao, about 20 minutes by bus from their hotel. The Estadio Serejao is a stadium with a natural turf on which the Brazilian Second Division Series A Championship matches are regularly played with team Cameroon given the opportunity to watch one of the fixtures.

Prior to their departure for Brasilia on October 19, Coach Thomas Libiih made public the list of 21 players who will defend the colours of Cameroon at the U17 FIFA World Cup. On their way to Brasilia, the team spent three days training at the Sorocaba Training Center in the outskirts of São Paulo with a friendly match on October 21 with the Shenzhen Football Association.

Roundup of Friendly matches played

The U-17 played five friendlies:

• On October 7 against the U-17 of Brasilia FC, a 2nd division club in the Estadio Serejao. Score 3-1 in favour of Cameroon
• October 09, the U-17 Lions beat the senior team of Brasilia FC in the team’s stadium 3-1
• October 13 against Legiao FC Seniors at Serejao stadium, Score 3-0 in favour of the U-17 Lions
• October 18 against Planaltina Esporte Cube Seniors at Serejao stadium, losing 1 to 2 and
• October 21 against the Shenzhen Football Association Senior Team, score 4-1 win for Cameroon at the Athlético Sports Complex stadium in Sorocaba (a club in the suburbs of Sao Paulo), where the U-17’s stayed for 3 days. It was in the same center that the U17 Lionesses prepared for the 2018 World Cup.

The latest news indicates a serene atmosphere in the den. The U17 Lions are ready for the competition with a determination to write the history for Cameroon’s cadet Lions in the U-17 World Cup.