UNIFFAC 2022: Yvan Kenmoe & Djawal Kaiba ‘Fearless’ Against Hosts Congo

In the pre match presser today Wednesday Dec. 7, assistant coach Yvan Kenmoe and Kaiba Djawal spoke with poise, putting aside all the ‘pressure’ talks before their opener on Thursday against hosts Congo.

Coach Yvan Kenmoe is the youngest trainer in this U20 2022 UNIFFAC tournament aged 26. However, the gaffer’s demeanor echoes a different story.

Quizzed on if the pressure will be on Cameroon as they face hosts Congo tomorrow, the gaffer said: ‘ We know that they are a big team but we come to Congo to win and qualify for another time. We respect this Congo team as they are home and have good potentials. But, we know that we are Cameroon and we will do all to represent in the best way,’ Kenmoe said.

Cameroon goes into the 4-team zonal tournament as holders, and nothing less than a ticket to the AFCON finals – in Egypt next year – will be considered success.

Kenmoe is confident after his side’s preparations made prior to the tourney.

‘We didn’t encounter any difficulties,’ he said before going further to explain: ‘All dispositions were taken by the new FECAFOOT board to make sure all runs smoothly. We rather started our preparations way ahead of time. Members of the Government and FECAFOOT did their best for our preparations to be a success’.

Cameroon had two camps before the tournament. ‘the first camp permitted us to work with some players, and then, we did a second which was a definitive camp for three weeks,’ the coach explained.

‘The team is good, in high spirit and ready to go,’ according to midfeilder Kaiba Djawal who is new to the competition.

The rise of Kaiba has been exceptional in the last couple of months. He has played with the senior men’s national team, the Under 23’s and the CHAN selection. The Cotonsport midfeild engine is one of the senior players in the group, alongside glove-man Hecube Ntone who is the only survivor of the team that won the tournament in 2020.

7 teams were initially paired in a group of two to play the tournament, but late withdraws meant the compétition was narrowed to four.

Cameroon pits Congo at 3:00 pm local time on Dec. 8. A victory for the Junior Lions gets them in a good position. The group winner and runners-up qualify for the U20 AFCON finals penciled for February 18-12 March.