South Sudan, Cameroon In Friendly Game - CHAN Preparations

The Intermediate Lions of Cameroon will clash with the Bright Stars of South Sudan in an international friendly match on October 10, 2020 in Yaounde. According to a statement from South Sudan Federation (SSSFA) official Facebook page, the SSSFA accepted an invitation by Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) to play a friendly match against the Intermediate Lions and the Bright Stars of Sudan October 10, 2020 in Yaounde. According to the reports the SSSFA will soon summon the Bright Stars squad. 

The friendly match is in line with preparations for the upcoming African Nations Championship which will take place in Cameroon in January 2021. As part of preparations the head coach of the Intermediate Lions team, Yves Clément Arroga has invited 30 players to resume training in Yaounde ahead of the competition. The two-week training session to kick off on September 15, 2020 will take place at the CAF Excellence Centre in Mbankomo. It will be the first coming together of the players since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic. The coach said the players in camp are mostly those who took part in the previous training camp before the competition was suspended in March. Also there are players who have been training hard during confinement period following special training programmes from the technical bench. Yves Clément Arroga said after five months of physical inactivity focus will be on physical fitness to enable the players regain their fitness. The players will also have to undergo medical test to ensure that the players are free from COVID-19. 

The Bright Stars of South Sudan managed by former Under-20 Lions of Cameroon, Coach Ashu Besong, want to use the match as part preparations ahead of the back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Uganda. South Sudan is at the bottom of group B with zero points while Uganda leads the group with four points, with one better goal advantage ahead of Burkina Faso who also have the same number of points. The Flames of Malawi are in third position with three points following their opening group game win against the Bright Stars. The best two teams from each group will qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to take place in Cameroon. The Intermediate Lions of Cameroon have played four international friendlies. They are expected to play three more international matches after the South Sudan game.