Debutantes Cameroon are likely to be one of the most unknown sides at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, if not one of the weaker teams as well.
But a name to know from Les Lionesses, as profiled by FIFA.com, is striker Christine Manie. She scored the extra-time winner against the Ivory Coast at the 2014 African Women’s Championship that propelled Cameroon to the World Cup. Manie also scored decisive goals to give Cameroon shock qualification over Nigeria for the 2012 Olympics.
Cameroon lost all three game at the Olympics, but Manie & Co. hope the experience will pay off this year in Canada, where they will face Japan, Switzerland and Ecuador in Group C.
“It was the first time Cameroon took part in the Olympic Games,” Manie told FIFA.com. “In spite of our failure, it was great for us. We learned so many lessons, that, I think, will be helpful for the World Cup. We are going to try to do better than at the Olympics.”
Manie plays for Romania’s CFF Olimpia Cluj and says she is the only black player in Romania, but she embraces the fact that soccer can take her anywhere. This summer, it takes her and her teammates to Canada, where Cameroon will look to improve upon an experience in London three years ago.
