FIFA Women's World Cup qualification: Cameroon's last lap
The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon will make a return to the arena for the Australia and New Zealand intercontinental playoff final clash at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Wednesday, February 22.
Gabriel Zabo's side will have only one goal in mind which is to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup which will take place in Australia and New Zealand, from July 20 to August 20, 2023.
After their 2-0 victory against Thailand, Cameroon are one step away from securing their ticket to the global finals thanks to a brace from Gabrielle Onguéné's double as the Central Africans maintain the quest for a third consecutive campaign at the international showpiece.
For this, 58th placed Cameroonians must negotiate past 22th world ranked Portugal, who are eyeing their first ever appearance at the world stage.
During their last outings, Cameroonians and Portuguese proved that they had all the paraphernalia of the perfect globalist. This will be the first ever international meeting between Cameroon and Portugal at the senior level. and the Portuguese are the 10th European side that the Indomitable Lionesses face in their history.
The Selecção das Quinas have scored 16 times in their last six official games and Francisco Neto 's team remain on an incredible run of seven consecutive victories.
The latest, against New Zealand. as the Portuguese crushed the Ferns 5-0. A generous attack that will come up against a solid defense. Indeed, Cameroon is a well-established team. On his last 13 outings, the Indomitable Lionesses have kept their clean sheets eight times. The Awona-Johnson hinge, put in place since the 2019 Women's World Cup, makes its experience and authority speak at the heart of the green, red and yellow defense.
On the one hand, a left-hander, the Portuguese Jéssica Silva is the centerpiece of Francisco Neto's playing system. Dynamic and combative, the native of Vila Nova has been the face of the Selecao for 12 years and everyone knew from her arrival in New Zealand for this play-off tournament that she would be the strong link in the Portugal team.
"Queen of the small bridge" as she is nicknamed in her native country, Silva intends to rely on all her qualities to finally inspire her country to the world's biggest women's football competition.
On June 20, 2019 in Montpellier, Ajara Njoya Nchout scored one of the most beautiful goals in the history of the World Cup. Nchout dribbled past her markers to score the goal that qualified the Lionesses for the Round of 16 of the competition, in the very last seconds of the match against New Zealand.
Should we see it as a sign of fate? The Indomitable Lionesses winger will seek a new qualification for her home country on the soil of New Zealand. At 30, the native of Foumban will aim to bring her experience to bear.
Her offensive qualities are highlighted on the counter-attack, she is able to score in any position and her recoveries in a touch of the ball make her one of the of the best forwards in the world in finishing.
WHAT THEY SAY
"For me, it’s 50-50. Experience plays in favor of Cameroonians but we too have arguments to put forward and we will do everything to get our ticket. It's a final and a chance to go down in history. Qualifying for the World Cup would change everything for us." - Dolores Silva, Captain of Portugal
"Talking about the possibility of our qualification, we didn't think, once about not qualifying, we always thought about qualifying for our third consecutive Women's World Cup." - Gabriel Zabo, Cameroon coach