Cameroon’s victory over Nigeria historical, says Conceicao

Indomitable Lions of Cameroon’s head coach, Antonio Conceicao, cannot stop celebrating his team’s 1-0 defeat of Nigeria in an international friendly in Austria on Friday.

The Indomitable Lions’ win thanks to Zambo Anguissa’s 37th-minute strike was their first triumph in more than two decades over Super Eagles and Conceicao has lauded every member of the team for showing the right mentality needed to record the historic victory, reports soccernet.ng.

It was Cameroon’s first triumph over the Super Eagles since their penalty shootout victory over their arch-rivals in the final of the African Cup of Nations in 2000 after full-time scores stood at 2-2.

Nigeria won five of the six subsequent matches, including a thrilling 3-2 win at the quarterfinals of the Afcon hosted by Egypt two years ago.

Cameroon will host the next edition of the continental showpiece and know they may have to overcome a few traditional favourites, including Nigeria, to lift the prestigious trophy on home soil.

Conceicao acknowledges that his side must keep working hard to improve while also expressing his delight at the professionalism displayed by his players to record the morale-boosting win over Nigeria.

“This victory facilitates our work,” the head coach said, as per Camfoot.

“That is to say that we are on a good path. It is always much easier to work on victories than on more negative results.

“It will go down in history, but the most important thing is to see the behavior of my players both individually and collectively.

“We took notes; we saw positive things. Logically we need time to improve. We are not yet perfect, but I am very satisfied with the attitude and professionalism of my players.”

Cameroon and Nigeria face off again tomorrow as both teams complete the second leg of their double-header friendly clash.