Cameroon coach LeGuen shuffles pack for World Cup

Cameroon coach Paul LeGuen named nine uncapped players in his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad on Tuesday.

LeGuen left out Olympique Marseille midfielder Stephane Mbia and Burnley defender Andre Bikey, but the experienced Geremi and Rigobert Song, who have a combined 247 caps, were recalled after being left out for the last match against Italy in March.

LeGuen was under pressure to make changes after Cameroon were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the African Nations Cup in Angola in January.

Among the new players are Germany-born Eric Choupo-Mating of Nuremburg and Marcel Ndjeng from Augsburg. The two clubs meet on Thursday in the Bundesliga promotion-relegation play-offs.

The Cameroon coach also handed a first call-up to France-based defender Gaetan Bong and Switzerland-based striker Jacques Zoua.

Cameroon have been drawn in Group E in South Africa next month along with Denmark, Japan and The Netherlands.

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Guy Roland N'Dy Assembe (Valenciennes), Idriss Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor), Patrick Tignyemb (Bloemfontein Celtic)
Defenders: Patrick Abouna (Astres Douala), Benoit Assou Ekotto (Tottenham Hotspur), Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham Hotspur), Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes), Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Geremi (Ankaragucu), Boukar Makadji (Al Nahdha), Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco), Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor)
Midfielders: Achille Emana (Real Betis), Enoh Eyong (Ajax Amsterdam), Jean Makoun (Olympique Lyon), Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern), Joel Matip (Schalke 04), Patrick Mevoungou (Canon Yaounde), Marcel Ndjeng (Augsburg), Landry Nguemo (Celtic), Alexandre Song (Arsenal)
Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Coton Sport), Eric Choupo-Mating (Nuremburg), Paul Alo'o Efoulou (Nancy), Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan), Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg), Dorge Kouemaha (Club Bruges), Achille Webo (Real Mallorca), Jacques Zoua (Basle)