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Cameroon coach says Indomitable Lions face difficult World Cup
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- Cameroon's new national soccer coach, Claude Le Roy, believes his team faces an uphill but surmountable task in the first round of the World Cup."Cameroon's group is difficult, but we have some big Cameroonian names and thank goodness there is a team already in place," Le Roy was quoted today in as Cameroon's Le Messager newspaper.
The Indomitable Lions have been grouped with Italy, Chile and Austria in the first round of the finals.
Le Roy, who is from France, replaces Cameroonian coach Jean Onguene, who quit after Cameroon's disappointing performance in the recent African Nations Cup, where they only reached the quarter-finals.
Onguene will return to the team to assist Le Roy as a trainer. A second French citizen, Pierre Mankowski, will also join the team as physical trainer while former Cameroon goalkeeper Thomas Nkono will train the team's netminders.
It is Le Roy's second stint with Cameroon, after leading them to the 1988 African Cup title. After Le Roy left the Indomitable Lions, the team he groomed surprised the soccer world by advancing to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup.
Le Roy, who has coached 10 national teams including Senegal, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, said he was thrilled to be back with Cameroon after nearly a decade-long hiatus.
Le Roy, 50, has said he does not know if he will return to his current club, Paris Saint Germain, after the World Cup.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan