“Marc Brys is expected on the field, and not in the newspapers” ~ Former Indomitable Lions coach Rigobert Song hits back at Marc Brys
“Marc Brys is expected on the field, and not in the newspapers” ~ Former Indomitable Lions coach Rigobert Song hits back at Marc Brys👀🇨🇲
Rigobert Song has released a communique through his Facebook page refuting Marc Brys’ claims that he was being controlled during his time as the Indomitable Lions coach.
He writes✍🏾
“In an interview published on August 17, 2024, both in print and on its website, by the Belgian newspaper Dernière Heure (DH), Marc Brys, coach-selector of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, said: “I am 62 years old, an age at which we tell people the truth, to help them evolve. My predecessor Rigobert Song was his weather vane and had nothing to say”
Mr. Brys is indeed at an age where moderation and restraint in speaking out are essential, in line with the values conveyed by our sport. There is no need to resort to insults and use derogatory remarks. Especially towards people we do not know, for things that are foreign to us and that we have not experienced. I do not remember seeing him once in the locker room or during a training session during my tenure as manager-selector of the Indomitable Lions. Everyone has their own method, habits and way of working. The most important thing is the results.
I was fortunate during my time at the head of the Indomitable Lions to benefit from the support of my former teammates who have a great knowledge of football and the Cameroon national team. I also benefited from their advice and opinions, but in the end I was always the one who decides and assumes his choices.
As Manager-Selector, when few believed it, I qualified Cameroon for a World Cup and an African Cup of Nations. With performances in the final phase that I would have been the first to wish were better, but which were far from being ridiculous.
During my football career, both in clubs across Europe and with the Indomitable Lions, of which I was captain for around ten years, I have always been a player who has been able to prioritise the values that our sport conveys: fair play, team spirit, respect and solidarity. I know that in football, you win as a team. But my status as captain and later coach led me very early on to take responsibility when it is necessary. I believe that for my entire career I deserve respect. I respect everyone and I demand respect for myself in return.
Mr. Brys, who is continuing the reconstruction and renewal project that we have initiated, is expected on the field, and not in the newspapers, as part of the qualifiers for the CAN 2025 and the World Cup 2026.
The history of Cameroonian football has been written thanks to our icons. They deserve Respect and Recognition. I have made my career as a manager-selector by taking responsibility for certain situations”