Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was 10-years-old when Cameroon won their third Africa Cup of Nations title in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. That February in 2000, the Indomitable Lions defeated the Super Eagles via penalties as Rigobert Song lifted Africa’s biggest prize sky high in front of a deflated host nation.
“It was a big game. I remember when I was small I watched the final with (Samuel) Eto’o on our side and (Austin) Okocha on the other (Nigerian) side, it was a pleasure to see those games. Those were games which motivated me to play for my country and it is a dream now to represent Cameroon,” Choupo-Moting told DW in June 2021.
The 32-year-old who was born in Hamburg, Germany, is one of the stars for the Cameroon side that will fight for the African title on home soil this month. Cameroon finished fourth the last time they hosted the championship in 1972. But they have gone on to amass five AFCON titles since then, with a possible sixth in the coming weeks.
“It’s an honor to play the Nations Cup at home, it’s a special thing for the whole nation. We want to go as far as possible, that’s clear,” said the Bayern Munich star who missed out on Cameroon’s AFCON triumph in Gabon in 2017. (DW)
