News
MIÉ 25.01.2017
Born in Yaounde, the second most populous city in Cameroon, Joseph Fabrice Ondoa Ebogo has now been plying his trade in Spanish football for a number of years. The 21-year-old custodian made the move to Europe in 2009 to join the FC Barcelona youth ranks and was a member of the Azulgranas B-team which competed in LaLiga 1|2|3 during the 2014/15 campaign.
His stint with the Catalan giants came to an end in January 2016, after which he signed a permanent deal at Nastic. During Ondoa's maiden campaign at the Nou Estadi, the Tarragona-based outfit were a whisker away from clinching promotion to LaLiga Santander after finishing three points behind second-placed CD Leganes and failing to make it past the playoff semi-finals. This term he is out on loan at Sevilla Atletico, who are excelling upon their return to the second tier. As the first-choice goalkeeper for Cameroon, Ondoa harbours dreams of following in the footsteps of his compatriots Carlos Kameni and Thomas N'Kono.
Q: The group stage was tough going but you managed to negotiate your way through it. A: I think that we've done pretty well. It has been a long time since a Cameroon side has performed like this at a major tournament. As a nation we've endured some barren years, in which we failed to win or even qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 and 2013, and that puts some added pressure on us. By digging in and fighting hard we've made it through to the quarter-finals, without being one of the fancied sides, and we're not prepared to throw in the towel now, we'll be going all out.
Q: As a squad, what do expect from the Senegal game? What are your targets in this tournament?
A: Facing Senegal now is almost as if the final has come early for us. We're delighted at the draw and, as a squad, we're proud of ourselves and don't care who we have to come up against. What's more, I know that this team really thrives whenever the odds are stacked against us. First and foremost, our aim was to get through the group, but we've now realised what we're capable of doing here. Although I might be a youngster, I feel like somewhat of an old head in the dressing room and I know that we'll seize this opportunity.
Q: What message do you want to send to the Cameroonian people? A: That, whatever happens, we'll have acquitted ourselves well at this tournament, so they should be proud of us. We're champing at the bit and we're going to fight and give everything we've got, but people have got to forget about the time when we were the best in Africa, because it's ancient history now. Rome wasn't built in a day. But in the game against Gabon, for example, they were fighting for their lives against us, on home turf, and we showed what we're capable of.
Q: What role did Samuel Eto'o have in your development? A: When I was growing up, there were no football pitches where I lived and the idea of any old kid from Cameroon becoming a footballer seemed very far-fetched. Until Eto'o and his foundation arrived to help nurture and support all the football-loving kids, myself among them. It was while with them that I started playing in goal and I realised that I liked being between the sticks. My dad was against me playing football because he wanted me to study, but thanks to the Samuel Eto'o Foundation I was able to do both, to combine football and my studies, as well as to develop as a person and a player.
Q: Besides Eto'o, as a keeper, Kameni and N'Kono must have been other role models of yours… A: I know that I play in a position where Cameroon have had some legendary players and that means there's extra pressure on my shoulders. But I'm a laid-back, hard-working lad and the team know they can count on me, which is good. I fully intend to keep working hard with the national team so that I don't let the legends down.
Q: Sevilla Atletico are going great guns in LaLiga 1|2|3. Are you following the team from afar? A: I follow them every day through social media, the players' WhatsApp group and the LaLiga app. I'm always keeping tabs on what's going on and the other day, for example, although I was happy because of our performance against Gabon, I was sad at the same time too because of Sevilla Atletico's defeat to Girona FC. And obviously I also watched the first team's cup and league matches against Real Madrid.
© LALIGA - 2017