WILD DOGS SET SIGHTS ON INDOMITABLE LIONS

Minnows Guinea-Bissau believe they can take down the mighty Cameroon when they clash at Afcon tomorrow

THE BOOS from the home crowd after Gabon’s 1-1 draw with Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) debutants Guinea-Bissau was sweet music to the Wild Dogs after they stunned the Panthers.

Now the plucky Guinea-Bissauans want to cause the biggest upset of the tournament by beating four-time African champions Cameroon tomorrow (9pm) at Stade de l’Amitie.

The first match of the day will see the hosts take on Burkina Faso at the same venue at 6pm. Group A is wide open after both opening games ended 1-1, which means whoever wins tomorrow stands a good chance of going through to the knockout stage.

So far, Cameroon and Burkina Faso have looked like the teams to do that after they flexed their muscles, exposing their strength in their 1-1 draw.

The Panthers and Guinea-Bissau have lots of weaknesses that their opponents can exploit, but above that, the Wild Dogs showed tenacity to fight until the end. That paid off with Juary Soares scoring the nation’s first goal of the tournament at the death to give them an important point. After tasting what making history feels like, Guinea-Bissau want to defy the odds and reach the quarter-finals at their first attempt.

“We expect to win (against Cameroon) after the draw with the home team,” a confident Francisco Junior, Guinea-Bissau’s midfielder, said. “We are going to try our best to win that game. If we want to get to the next stage, we have to win against Cameroon. I think that we are improving because if you look at how long it took for us to be where we are now. To be honest with you, we were expecting a strong team against Gabon and they are strong. But we got our point and we are happy. That will give us confidence for our next match.”

Guinea-Bissau had an emotional send-off to their first Afcon appearance with thousands of well-wishers showing them love. In contrast, Cameroon had a controversial lead-up to this tournament with as many as eight players snubbing the national team. But both these nations are fighting to unite their countries.

Guinea-Bissau have no success in international football at the highest level. They are used to cheering players with links to the country, including Sporting Lisbon’s young sensation Carlos Mane, who is on loan at VFB Stuttgart and was born to Guinea-Bissau parents. Eder, who scored Portugal’s winning goal in last year’s Uefa European Championship, was born in Bissau – the country’s capital. This group doing duty here are fighting to put their country on the football map.

“Not many people know where Guinea-Bissau is,” Frederic Mendy said.

“I think that after the draw with Gabon, some people tried to find where Guinea-Bissau is. We saw the people (who came to wish us well) at the airport. It’s one of the things that I will never forget in my career. We know the responsibility that sits on our shoulders when we represent Guinea-Bissau. All the players think about it.”

Despite the chaos that preceded Cameroon coming here, coach Hugo Broos is confident the Indomitable Lions can “at least reach the quarter-finals”. To do that, they have to end Guinea-Bissau’s fairy-tale, a nation that hadn’t played a competitive match in four months before their draw with Gabon.