The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon might not be present at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but the nation might still have interest in watching the competition given that some of its sons are taking part.
Five of them in total are taking part at the competition for various countries namely ; Kylian Mbappe Lotin and Samuel Umtiti for France, Breel Embolo, Yvon Mvogo and Francois Moubandje of Switzerland.
The most talented of the five is arguably Kylian Mbappe whose meteoric rise to the summit of football has left many in awe of him. Son of Wilfrid Mbappe Lottin, a former Cameroonian footballer, the 19-year old played his World Cup game in France’s 2-1 victory on Saturday though he did not score. However, the player born in France previously said he has never had any doubts to his international career and was happy to represent Les Bleus.
Had he made the opposite choice, maybe he would have equally convinced Samuel Umtiti to join him play for the indomitable lions. The Barcelona defender has grown to be one of the best defenders in the world and made his world cup debut in France’s 2-1 victory over Australia on Saturday. Born in Yaounde in 1993, Umtiti left Cameroon at just the age of two and has never looked back even turning down a chance to join Cameroon and representing the country at the 2014 World Cup.
Another player who turned down the chance to join Camaeroon before the 2014 World Cup is Yvon Mvogo who is now serving as Witzerland’s reserve goalkeeper at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Born in Yaounde in 1994, he moved to Switzerland at the age of six and has since them decided to represent his adopted country. He turned down an approach from Volker Finke in 2014 before earning his first Swiss call in November of the same year.
Like Mvogo, Breel Embolo was also on Volker Finke’s radar but Swiss authorities were swift enough to tie him up after eye-catching performances for Basel in 2014 in the Champions League where he became the sixth youngest goal scorer in the history of the competition at just 17 years and 263 days. Embolo came on for Switzerland on Sunday for their 1-1 draw against Brazil as he looks to make a major impact in the competition.
Finally, Francois Moubandje is an established left back with French Ligue 1 side Toulouse after learning his trade in Switzerland. One of the experienced members of the Swiss national team, he has never been contacted by Cameroon to represent the indomitable Lions thus the logical choice to play for Switzerland-a country where he moved to, at a very tender age.He will however have to battle hard to get the leftback spot from Ricardo Rodriguez who has made it his own.
