photo credit; Google images

1. Money is never enough for success unless it is cushioned by sacrifice. Cameroon came into the just ended competition with haunting memories and hangovers from the Brazil fiasco. Winning bonuses became an issue at the critical moment of the tournament. The players boycotted training a day before their emphatic clash with the black stars. These among other setbacks were enough to see Cameroon off in the first round. Having put their shortcomings behind them, a success story has been told. They did not allow these drawbacks affect their passion for the ultimate.

2. Better be underrated than be overrated on the grounds of complacency which never pays.They (Cameroon) were considered under dogs by many. Most Sports writers and pundits-including myself, least expected the Central African Contenders of the tournament to reach this far. After beating Senegal, Ghana and finally Egypt( countries mostly considered as the powerhouse of African Football ), in a successive bid for the ultimate, sports writers and football analysts now have to redefine who an underdog is in the face of a complacent favourite- like Ghana and the rest , to rewrite their scripts even as sports commentators.

3. Leading is different from winning. In the early embers of the Game between Cameroon and Egypt, the latter looked much more convinced to lift the trophy and a goal as early as in the 22nd minute was enough as evidence. Egypt haven scored a goal in that minutes, relaxed to their normal game of using the flanks to attack Cameroon on a counter thereby relying mostly on their lone striker, Mohammed Salah upfront. This was not successful enough to see the Egyptians double their lead as the Cameroonians defends was as solid as a rock of Gibraltar and difficult to penetrate. The Egyptians though had a goal to their advantage, the Cameroonians dominated play and dictated the pace of the game even in the first half with an impressive possession of 63% as against 37% by the Egyptians. The Cameroonians had a different mentality of winning and leading as they fought hard to equalize and was later rewarded with a tournament winning strike after all. You might take the lead, but someone else can win. It’s about defining whether to win or lead at the end of every situation.

4. Never sit on your laurels. Of Course every country represented at the Afcon had some target. Some came to defend the title, others too to taste the Afcon for the first time, unfortunately, I must say, others came because they qualified-interesting huh! The last time Ghana won the Afcon, Cameroon had a nil trophy to boast of. However, after 35 years of dormancy on the part of Ghana, Cameroon has come from behind to win their 5th Afcon title and currently a force to reckon in Africa – incredible. Ghana are now stacked at 4th Afcon Glory yet always claiming to be the super-powers of African football with consistent disappointment and an embodiment of national confers drainers year in year out. Never sit on your laurels, do more if you can today because life presents us with at times similar opportunities, it depends on how we define and utilize such opportunities.

5. Nobody is indispensable except nothing. Again, and lastly, if the just ended tournament was technically about player quality, class and form, then I don’t think Cameroon would have even qualified in the first place. Before the tournament, players that have been consistent on their side including Andre Onana of Ajax-Amsterdam, Guy Roland of Nancy, Joel Matip of Liverpool, Allan Nyom of West Brom, Maxime Pundje of Bordeaux, Andre Zambo of OM, chuopo moting of schalke 04, Ibrahim Amadou of Lille were all missing from their squad. It’s is disheartening to note that, the aforementioned players chose their respective clubs at the expense of national pride. As unpatriotic as it may sound in your ears, I doubt not that these crusade of players will be biting their fingers and bow their heads in shame by now.

My take: Be motivated to increase your acceleration not because you can run but because you have to-life is a race. Run faster to out run what is chasing you- dreams, aspirations and goals.
In the pursuance of dreams , winners are those that never slept, those that never gave up, those that never sat on their laurels, those that never built a future around dream killers, those that moved on in midst of disappointments and successful failures.
You can move on in life without some people. Even when they say no! It’s about never quitting even when they don’t believe in your dreams, turn you down and even fail to stay by your side when you needed them the most.

To my beloved country Ghana (better luck next time) and all, this is the success story of Cameroon, a blueprint for all prospective winners of every situation. It might not just be football. In every situation, much more than money, complacency, past glories, just taking the lead, and over reliance on people is required to win. To be a winner, it requires the amalgamation of sacrifice, dedication, commitment and a high sense of duty and this should wake you up at night, and hence, a dreamer never sleeps.
Pen down!!!!!

Photo credit ; Google images

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