BarcelonaTen years after having to leave Espanyol, Carlos Kameni (Douala, Cameroon, 1984) still keeps alive the ambition to continue playing football. The Cameroonian will not be able to follow Valencia’s visit to Cornellà-El Prat (2 p.m., Movistar LaLiga) because two hours later he will have to defend the goal of Unió Esportiva Santa Coloma, the Andorran club where he landed this summer. In an interview with ARA, he talks about the Olympic gold that changed his life, his time as a Spanish player and the stigma of racism that he suffered first hand.
What brings you to Andorra?
— The desire to continue playing at a high level. After being in Africa last year [a l’Arta/Solar7 de Djibouti] I wanted to go back to Europe. Faced with the difficulty of finding something in Spain, I came here because of a friend’s contact. On debut day I was just as nervous as in my first match as a professional.
How do you take care of a 38-year-old goalkeeper?
— Age is just a number. You can maintain the physicality by training, but it is the head and the desire to keep playing that is in charge. I feel good physically and mentally and I’m not thinking of retiring, but of continuing to enjoy and enjoy the hobby. I train hard, eat well and rest a lot. I avoid eating sweets and milk chocolate. I only look at sweets.
When Tamudo reminds me that I stole the Olympic gold, I tell him that I will leave him my medal for a few days”
In the summer of 2000, aged just 16, he was part of the Cameroon team that won the Sydney Olympics. A success that catapulted a whole generation of talents like Eto’o, Wome, Geremi or you. Did they expect that gold?
— It would be a lie to say that we expected gold. We were looking to get through the group stage, have fun and defend the team’s colors. We were a family, a group of brothers who fought one for all and all for one. We knew that if we suffered together, we could laugh together in the end. When we beat Brazil, the favourites, we saw that there was no turning back. Olympic gold is the most special sporting achievement of my career. It marked my life and that of the players in that team: it allowed us to get contracts in Europe and enter the world of high-level football. When Tamudo reminds me that I stole that gold from him, I tell him that I’m leaving him my medal, but only for a few days.
In two months, the World Cup will be played in Qatar. He has not played for the Cameroon national team since 2019. Is it a discarded dream?
— Hope is what makes us live and dream. I don’t rule it out at all. As long as I am active, I will be at the disposal of my country and my national team. It would be an award for my career. If I go to the World Cup, however, it won’t be to walk around, but to join.
His first step through Europe was in France, but in four years he played only one official game there. Espanyol made a risky bet by signing him.
— That’s right, you have to say things as they are. I thank Tommy N’Kono for betting on me and taking me to the club that introduced me to professional football. Espanyol didn’t know me, but he did. I had offers from England, but he asked me to come to Espanyol, and I didn’t hesitate to listen to him. He is my football father and one of the most important people in my career. We maintain a very close relationship.
It’s not usual for a 20-year-old goalkeeper to start a La Liga team.
— It is not, but thanks to God and the trust that the people of Espanyol gave me, I succeeded. I am a born fighter. If they give me a chance, I try to take it. And if they don’t give it to me, I keep fighting until they do. Nobody gave me anything. If you don’t work hard and put in the effort you won’t get any prize. Mindset is what makes the difference between getting things done or not.
The course of his debut stopped penalties to stars like Ronaldo, Torres or Baptista. Did he study pitchers a lot?
– No. It was all intuition. I respect the job goalie coaches do, but I don’t like studying pitchers. If you think in percentages, you are very conditioned. I think a goalkeeper’s work is more intuitive than analytical. You have to keep your head working during the game and make decisions at every moment. I’d rather be the one wrong.
He was part of a generation with names like Tamudo, De la Peña or Luis García, with whom he won Espanyol’s last official title, the Copa del Rey in 2006, and reached the UEFA final in 2007
— We beat very important teams. The Cup was the biggest success I achieved with Espanyol, while reaching the UEFA final was an incredible prize. Despite the defeat, I remain with the good season and the collective work we did. I have a lot of affection and respect for Espanyol and its fans for everything it has given me.
I wanted to see Espanyol grow, but my speech was not welcome at that time”
In the summer of 2011, he asked Espanyol’s board for more ambition, words that condemned him to ostracism until January, when he left for Málaga on a free transfer. What happened to get him kicked out of the club?
— My speech was neither appropriate nor welcome at that time. The decision of Mauricio Pochettino and the board at that time was to get me out of Espanyol. Not because he was controversial, because he didn’t cause problems, but because they didn’t want this type of footballer. And that I possibly felt the colors more than some of them. I didn’t understand how, with a team like ours, the club could be there without ambition. I wanted to see Espanyol grow. Maybe it wasn’t what they wanted and that’s why they pushed me towards the exit. It was painful to leave like that, but that’s football and life.
Did Espanyol offer him, later, the possibility of returning?
– No. I volunteered twice: in 2019, when I returned from Turkey, and last year. They closed the door on me both times.
Regrettably, racism is still very present in the football fields of Spain. It was your turn to suffer incidents of this type both with rival fans and with some radicals of Espanyol. Does it surprise him that episodes of this type are still happening in the League?
— I am not surprised, because at no time were firm decisions taken to end this. Things will only start to change the day that, when such an episode happens, an entire stand is banned from entering the field or a team is made to play away from its stadium as a home team, for example. In the stadiums there are thousands of children reproducing the education they receive from their parents. Many times I have felt helpless, wondering if we are part of the same planet. We have been accumulating lack of education and respect for many years and I still don’t know why no decision has been taken.
Are you worried about the rise of the far right in Europe?
— I came to Europe to play football and my children were born here. I don’t value politics. I totally respect his outlook on life. If they win these matches it will mean that there is not just one person, but that close to the majority of a society thinks the same. What do you want to change? You have to accept things as they are. And if tomorrow I have to live in such a country, I will return to Cameroon. Life is like that.
