CAMEROON goalkeeper Andre Onana has said that the Warriors are no threat to his team’s ambitions of qualifying to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals from Group J of the qualifiers.
The Manchester United shot stopper believes only Kenya will be their competition in a pool that also contains Namibia.
The Indomitable Lions and the Warriors played to a goalless draw at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, on Tuesday in a contest the latter created the better chances against their more fancied opponents and were unlucky not to walk away with all the three points.
Cameroon next play Kenya in back-to-back clashes next month, while Zimbabwe will tussle it out against Namibia.
Onana admitted that the game against a spirited Zimbabwe was “hard”, but feels that the only real competition that they have is Kenya.
Speaking to Sky Sports on his return to England, the Manchester United number one said: “Kenya is the only team in our group that is giving us competition, but I hope we make it to the qualifying round. The game against Zimbabwe was a little bit hard, but we came out with a point, which is good.”
Cameroon are unbeaten from their opening two matches of the group, following a 1-0 home win over Namibia in their opener.
They are joint group leaders with Kenya, who are also unbeaten having drawn goalless against Zimbabwe in their opener before beating Namibia 2-1 on Tuesday in South Africa.
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Zimbabwe, under new coach Michael Nees, are third on the standings with two points, while Namibia anchor the group with zero points from a possible six.
Zimbabwe hosted Cameroon in Uganda, while Namibia played their home match against Kenya in South Africa because the two countries do not have Caf-certified stadiums to host international matches.
Kenya, too, does not have a fit stadium and hosted Zimbabwe in Kampala last week, leaving Cameroon the only team to enjoy the home comforts in the group.
The last two rounds of matches will be played in November, with the top two teams progressing to the finals set for Morocco next year.
Nees has been in charge of two games, but the German believes he has already seen some encouraging signs from his players as he begins to implement his methods.
It is the performance against Cameroon that is giving the 57-year-old a lot of encouragement.
Zimbabwe displayed one of their best performances in years, although they could not convert the numerous chances that they created against a team boasting world-class stars in Onana, Napoli’s Frank Zambo Anguissa, Carlos Baleba of Brighton and Hove and their talismanic captain Vincent Aboubakar.
Zimbabwe restricted Cameroon to zero shots on target, compared to their five.
In total, Zimbabwe had 17 shots, while Cameroon, with all their stars, could only manage 13.
Nees wondered how his side failed to bag all the three points, but was, however, left satisfied with the team’s performance.
“When you look at the performance (against Cameroon), it’s very encouraging. We need to continue to work, to stay focused and to be disciplined. The results will automatically come,” Nees said.
