The non-selection of Nchindo John Bosco, Cameroon’s recent Ballon d’Or winner, has caused quite a stir in Cameroon. Coach Marc Brys has explained this decision… and his answer is hard to convince.
“I don’t live here”
Asked at a press conference about his squad against Eswatini and Libya in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Belgian coach initially gave a rather surprising answer when asked about the Yong Sports striker’s absence.
“I don’t live here, I work here, and there are times when I’m not here. That means my assistants have to watch the local league matches.”
The case of Nchindo John Bosco is just the tip of the ice of a deeper problem: the integration of local talent into the national team.
An understandable choice? Brys admits to having seen some glimpses of the player, but believes he failed to adapt when he was called up:
“When he was with us, he unfortunately didn’t adapt and was too angry. I’m very happy he won the Cameroon Ballon d’Or. It will give him a lot of confidence, and that’s what he was missing.”
An explanation that some understand, since the Cameroonian local championship is still far from meeting the demands of the international level, and the timing may not have been right, especially if the player’s initial adjustment was difficult.
But the symbolism is hard to accept for others. Why shouldn’t a player named the country’s best footballer have a chance to be at least in the squad, while certain expatriates, out of form or rarely used by their clubs, continue to be called up?
A “discomfort” regarding the role of foreign coaches?
Marc Brys’s admission fuels a recurring debate in Africa: that of foreign coaches who manage national teams without actually living there. How can one claim to effectively follow a country’s football when one isn’t there?
Should they necessarily reside in the country they manage? Many people find it paradoxical that a coach is responsible for a national team without taking the pulse of a country’s football on a daily basis.
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