AFCON: Arnold Kamdem’s Inspiring Football Story

Benefits from power struggles

A few hours before the turn of the year, a big dream came true for Arnold Maël Kamdem with his debut for the Cameroon national team. While the 25-year-old competes against the continent’s greats at the Africa Cup, everyday life for him means: the lowlands of Brazilian regional football. The personal football fairy tale is part of a long power struggle in Cameroon.

When Kamdem was called up in mid-December to replace the injured Fidel Brice Ambina (24), question marks arose even among the die-hard fans of the indomitable lions. The midfielder had only moved a few days earlier in the interior of Brazil from Penarol AC of the Campeonato Amazonense Série B to CS Sinop, which was barely able to stay in the Campeonato Mato-Grossense.

Aside from the regional state championships – mainly in the states of Brazil that are not so good in terms of sports – Kamdem has not yet been able to gain a foothold in any of the four highest national leagues. The sporting highlight was the first round exit in the Copa do Brasil with Tocantinópolis EC against first division club Atlético Mineiro (0-2) last February – until the Africa Cup of Nations. This surprise is closely linked to coach David Pagou, who is right in the middle of the power struggle over Cameroon’s football.

Kamdem benefits from the power struggle over Cameroon’s football

The term of office of association president Samuel Eto’o, which has been in office since 2021 and is primarily at odds with the Ministry of Sports, has been marked by scandals and chaos. After being re-elected at the beginning of December, national coach Marc Brys was dismissed after numerous allegations and replaced by Pagou, who was named Coach of the Year in 2024 after narrowly missing out on the title with Stade Renard de Melong in Cameroon and has worked for the association in other roles several times.

Brys, who had already taken office in April 2024 against Eto’o’s wishes, did not want to accept this decision and insisted that Cameroon’s national coach had been appointed by the Ministry of Sports for over 30 years. Only he could fire him. And so the Belgian still nominated his squad for the Africa Cup, even though the association had already presented a squad beforehand. However, established players who are in conflict with Eto’o were missing, including André Onana (29), Vincent Aboubakar (33) and Michael Ngadeu (35). And when Ambina was still out, new coach Pagou remembered an old companion.

Even before Kamdem left his homeland, Pagou coached him at Renaissance de Ngoumou and also looked after him as a fitness trainer for the U20 national team. The long-term relationship played a decisive role in his nomination for the Africa Cup of Nations, as Kamdem Pagou, like many coaches, was able to surprise him positively. And in the end, the association won the power struggle against the sports ministry, at least for the time being, and the continental association CAF followed Pagou’s nomination list.

Kamdem’s journey from the streets of Yaoundé to the Africa Cup of Nations

So Kamdem’s journey from the streets of the Cameroonian capital via the venture to Brazil actually ended in the jersey of the indomitable lions. As a small boy, he played soccer with friends in front of his house on the streets of his hometown Yaoundé, always with the goal of becoming a professional. He encountered an obstacle early on: Kamdem was almost always the smallest.

“I had difficulties because of my height, I’m quite small, so I had to work a lot harder to balance my height with my speed and effort and so things started to go better. When I came to a club the coach didn’t pay much attention to me because I was a bit short, but after I trained for a while he saw that I was different, even though I’m a bit short I compensate in other areas and that’s how I overcame my difficulties with height,” he recalled a few years ago.

Kamdem was able to quickly make a name for himself in amateur football, and he also demonstrated leadership qualities as captain at the Université de Yaoundé I. It wasn’t just his 1.68 meter height and his similarity that earned him comparisons with France’s 2018 world champion N’Golo Kanté (34). The two are also similar in their playing style: aggressiveness and commitment, tactical understanding, a good passing game and a lot of energy. And Kanté also didn’t make the leap to the professionals in the big youth training centers in France.

Kamdem went from the regional third division to the national second division, where he met Pagou for the first time at Renaissance FC. There, the midfield talent made the jump to the Cameroon U20, with whom he played three games in qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations. But at just 19 years old and without a contract, Kamdem took the big step across the Atlantic to Brazil, in his eyes the country of football.

Kamdem later admitted that the start far from home and without any contacts was not easy. A trial training session with Itapirense in the hinterland of São Paulo finally resulted in his first commitment. Kamdem played in the U20 for the club, which at the time was only playing in the fourth division in the state. After the Corona break, he made the jump to the men’s division at Nação Esportes FC in the Série C of the Santa Catarina state championship.

Since then, ten other clubs have followed in the depths of Brazilian football; at least Kamdem has been able to play in the highest and second highest levels of the state championships in the last three years. The style of football helped him move forward, said Kamdem. “Cameroonian football is a little more about strength, whereas Brazilian football is very technical, with very fast players. This has allowed me to develop and train much harder.”

Kamdem can recommend himself for higher tasks at the Africa Cup

In the end, however, it was the fortunate circumstance that his ex-coach Pagou, who was impressed at an early stage, was given the job at Cameroon that gave him the chance to step onto the big international stage. In the third group game against Mozambique (2-1), Kamdem came on as a substitute for Brighton’s Carlos Baleba (22) at half-time – and was able to keep up without any major problems. “The beginning was very tense. Everything was new, but it’s a dream come true. It’s an honor and a joy to play for Cameroon,” he said afterwards. “Of course I felt some pressure. But since it’s a competition, you have to overcome that, free yourself and do your best.”

Despite the quarrels surrounding the association, the goal is clear for Kamdem: the final on January 18th in Rabat. In the round of 16, he was on the bench celebrating progress against South Africa (2-1). Hosts and top favorites Morocco are now waiting in the quarter-finals. It remains to be seen whether he will get the chance to show himself on the big stage again. The surprising appearance could bring him closer to his future dreams. “My dream is to play professionally at a high level, for example in the Brazilian Série A, with teams like Corinthians, Santos or Flamengo. I also want to play in Europe, in one of the five big leagues,” he once said.