Ngando Pickett, a passionate supporter of the Indomitable Lions, is hoping to cheer his staff on in Qatar – and do a little bit of dancing too.
Yaounde, Cameroon – Cameroon’s most distinguished soccer fan has his sights set on travelling to Qatar to cheer on his Indomitable Lions on the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
For greater than 40 years, Ngando Pickett has supported his staff via good occasions and the dangerous, attending 16 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments and two world cups.
“I simply love soccer and my nation,” mentioned Pickett, who stopped going by his actual title Henri Mouyébé when mates nicknamed him after the late American soul singer Wilson Pickett due to his comparable dance strikes.
Pickett, who performed beginner soccer within the Nineteen Seventies, instructed Al Jazeera that he first began supporting the Indomitable Lions in 1982 when he was a scholar residing in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
“Cameroon had come to play a college competitors in Ivory Coast. We have been simply 10 Cameroonians in Yamoussoukro, however I mobilised them to go assist the youth soccer staff,” he mentioned, including that he was in a position to see his nation win its first AFCON trophy two years later in Abidjan.
Years later, Pickett caught the eyes of Cameroonian officers attending the 1998 AFCON in Burkina Faso as a result of he had coated his physique and garments with paint that matched the inexperienced, pink and yellow of the nation’s flag.
“I used to be the subject of debate on the sidelines of the AFCON as a result of almost each media [outlet] that got here to cowl the competitors took pictures of me, together with most French shops,” he mentioned.
Joseph Owona, Cameroon’s minister of sports activities on the time, was so impressed with Pickett that he requested him to tackle an vital position for the membership.
“He mentioned he had met an exquisite Indomitable Lions supporter. He determined to make me the mascot of the staff,” Pickett mentioned, including that Owona helped him go to the World Cup in France that 12 months.
“I actually loved a cultural evening we had round Notre-Dame Cathedral with seven different Cameroon followers,” he mentioned. “We have been in a mini-dance competitors with another nations’ followers and we beat them with our shows. We got a giant carton of champagne. From there, wherever we went, they knew the Cameroonians had include their thrilling dance strikes.”
Dancing on the facet
When Pickett isn’t cheering on his staff at video games, the father-of-two earns more money entertaining at native occasions with Cameroun O Mulema, a dance group he based in Cameroon’s financial capital, Douala.
“We carry out at events, marriages and official occasions, particularly in Douala,” he mentioned. “We journey to different elements of the nation when invited. Individuals know me, so I don’t discover it tough.”
He mentioned the cash he earns from performing goes to pay for his kids’s schooling.
“I've to do that in durations once we don’t have soccer competitions,” Pickett mentioned. “It's not simple, however I've been doing it for years now.”
Phrase Cup hopes
However soccer is Pickett’s real love, and he's anxiously ready to listen to from the Cameroonian Soccer Federation (Fecafoot) to see if he can attend the World Cup in Qatar.
“Fecafoot may be very conscious of our plan to go to Qatar. They've instructed us they're engaged on our journey, lodging and different issues. I'm very hopeful about it.”
Pickett can be hoping the fan group he based, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon Supporters Membership, can even be capable to make the journey to Qatar.
“There are 20 of us who might be taken care of by the Cameroon Soccer Federation for the World Cup,” Pickett mentioned. “We already began each day apply a few month in the past. We're positive of representing Cameroonian followers massively in Qatar.”
Excessive expectations
Pickett has excessive hopes for his staff on this 12 months’s World Cup.
Cameroon is in Group G and can begin their marketing campaign in opposition to Switzerland on November 24 earlier than assembly Serbia 4 days later and wrapping up the group stage in opposition to five-time champions Brazil on December 2.
Pickett gave a thumbs-up to the job that Samuel Eto’o, president of Fecafoot, is doing and predicted his staff will attain not less than the knockout stage of the World Cup.
“I imagine we’ll reach reaching not less than the spherical of 16 as a result of Eto’o is doing all the things potential to get the precise gamers,” he mentioned.
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