Cameroon driven by Foé memory at Russia 2017

CAMEROON will be driven by the memory of Marc Vivien-Foé when they contest the Confederations Cup for the first time since the midfielder’s death.

Foé died after collapsing on the pitch during the 2003 semifinal against Colombia in France.

The 28-year-old was later found to have suffered from a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The Indomitable Lions will end their 14-year absence from the Confederations Cup when the World Cup dress rehearsal kicked off yesterday.

Cameroon open their Group B campaign against Copa America winners Chile today in Moscow, before meeting Asian champions Australia four days later and then the world champions themselves, Germany, on June 25.

Despite the passage of time, the memory of Foé — a Manchester City player at the time of his death — will be uppermost in their minds as the African champions take to the field in Russia.

“We want to play well for him — to honour and respect what he did for Cameroon,” midfielder Arnaud Djoum said.

“We want to show a good image of Cameroon for him first. In the dressing room, we try not to speak too much about it out of respect for him and his family.”

Scotland-based Djoum, who won the Nations Cup just five months after making his Cameroon debut, may feel the connection more closely than others given that he wears No 17 on his Indomitable Lions jersey — just as Foé did many years before him.

But instead of feeling any burden, the 28-year-old calls it “special” and “an honour” to wear the shirt — even though he says: “It’s not an easy number to wear in this national team.”

Memories of Foé aside, Cameroon may also be mindful that their last appearance on the global stage was little short of disastrous.

Ahead of the 2014 World Cup, a bonus row initially delayed the Cameroon squad’s flight to Brazil where the team promptly crashed out after just two games.

Players clashed among themselves on the pitch during a 4-0 defeat by Croatia, which later became the subject of a match-fixing investigation — although nothing has ever been proven.

Cameroon booked their ticket to Russia after winning the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

“In the whole of the German team, they have great players — big, big players — so it will be interesting to see the level and compare if we are near this level or not,” said Djoum.

“Our team has a lot of confidence now, after the Nations Cup, and we want to prove that we deserved to win the trophy.

“We want to show that the teams in Africa can do good things,” said Djoum, who has played for Scottish side Motherwell since 2015.

“Previously in this competition, African teams did well so we want to show that we can play against these kinds of countries — like Germany and Chile — so that we can show that we have a good team as well.

“With our team now, with our confidence, everything is possible. We are not scared of anybody. We will try to do our best and go as far as possible.” —