The Porcupine Warriors striker has been named in the Indomitable Lions squad that will play two qualification matches for the 2023 Afcon next month
Asante Kotoko striker Mbella Etouga Frank Thierry has been named in Cameroon national team squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month by head coach Rigerbort Song, AshesGyamera.com can report.
Cameroon will face Kenya and Burundi next month for a place in the Afcon to be staged in Ivory Coast in 2023.
The 20-year-old has been in a fine form since his move from Cameroonian side AS Fortuna to join Kotoko at the start of the Ghana Premier League season.
He has bagged 19 goals for Kotoko as the club currently sit top of the log with nine points advantage.
The 2023 Afcon draw ceremony was organised in the evening of Tuesday, April 19, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa coordinated by two football legends South African defender Lucas Radebe and Côte d’Ivoire’s forward Solomon Kalou.
Cameroon; The favourite in Group C
The indomitable Lions of Cameroon, favourite to progress from the group, keeps fresh memories of the 2021 AFCON, where she hosted and exited at the quarter final stage after felling off the hands of the Pharaohs of Egypt on a score 3-1 on penalties after the two footballing giants registered a 0-0 tie in regular time.
Cameroon is the second best football nation in the African continent with five trophies just two down from Egypt that tops the chart with seven AFCON cup title at the AFCON.
The Central African state of Cameroon will mark her eighth participation at the world cup in Qatar come 2023 November, this counts for the highest number from any African participating team at the AFCON
Football annals keep a record of the five AFCON trophies for Cameroon won in the years ; 1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017 in Gabon against ace rival Egypt.
The Indomitable Lions will be hustling for a qualification ticket with a squad list made up of well experienced and celebrated players like Vincent Aboubakar who ended the 2021 AFCON as the top scorer and best player of the tournament with a total of eight goals and featured on the CAF best XI alongside other teammates like Andre Onana, Nouhou Tolo, Karl Toko Ekambi as substitutes.
Her opponent, the Brave Warriors of Namibia counts three participations of AFCON though have been knocked out just at the group stages in all her three outings.
The Swallows of Burundi made their AFCON debut in 2019, but lost all its matches and left from the group stage without scoring a single goal.
The Harambee Stars of Kenya on her part counts six participation at the AFCON though exited at the group stages. The East African team recorded her first outing at the AFCON in 1972 and till date is still to mark an appearance at the World Cup.
The top two teams in group C will join the rest from 11 other groups at the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire to run from June 23 to July 23 2023.