Highlights: Swiss champion this weekend with the Youngs Boys Bern, Cameroonian striker Jean-Pierre Nsame has been shining in the Swiss league for years. The 30-year-old had to wait until last September to be called up to the national team by Rigobert Song; 28 minutes of play in total in friendly matches against Uzbekistan and South Korea. Nsame did not play a single minute in Qatar, not even against Switzerland, a team he "knows well". "There is the little boy of 7 years who dreamed of playing in the World Cup. This one, it is filled, he will confide to a Cameroonian site," Nsame says.

Swiss champion this weekend with the Youngs Boys Bern, Cameroonian striker Jean-Pierre Nsame has been shining in the Swiss league for years. But in selection, his story is more...

Jean-Pierre Nsame, happy striker in Switzerland, frustrated in Cameroon

Cameroonian striker Jean-Pierre Nsame in the jersey of Swiss club Young Boys Bern. AFP - ALBERTO PIZZOLI

Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow

2 min

Swiss champion this weekend with the Youngs Boys Bern, Cameroonian striker Jean-Pierre Nsame has been shining in the Swiss league for years. But in selection, his story is more thwarted.

Advertising

By opening the scoring this Sunday, April 30 against Lucerne (5-1), Jean-Pierre Nsame put his team, Young Boys Bern, on the road to victory and the formalization of a new championship title. With 17 goals in 31 rounds, the Cameroonian striker has again contributed to the 5th title of the Bernese in the last six championships. Since he landed in Switzerland, the native of Douala, who arrived very young in France, does not stop piling up goals, even finishing best director of the championship in 2020 (32 goals) and 2021 (19 goals).

Trained at SCO Angers, Jean-Pierre Nsame had a difficult start to his career, weighed down by a three-year suspended prison sentence for violence against a minor for shaking his 5-month-old daughter in 2015. It was after this complicated period that he "went into exile" in Switzerland and exploded in the jersey of Servette de Genève in the second division. He scored 23 goals in one season. Since joining Bern in 2016, he has been the most prolific Cameroonian striker in Europe over the past five years.

Zero minutes in Qatar

However, its effectiveness does not seem to export well in selection. The 30-year-old had to wait until last September to be called up to the national team by Rigobert Song; 28 minutes of play in total in friendly matches against Uzbekistan and South Korea.

What's next? Nothing. Called up to the Indomitable squad for the 2022 World Cup, Jean-Pierre Nsame did not play a single minute in Qatar. Not even against Switzerland, a team he "knows well". The disappointment is great for Nsame. "There is the little boy of 7 years who dreamed of playing in the World Cup. This one, it is filled, he will confide to a Cameroonian site. Now there is the competitor, which I am, who is necessarily frustrated. The coach has made his choices, I think he must be happy. I leave frustrated."

Today, the link seems broken with the selection led by Rigobert Song. After the World Cup, the "Bernese" is not called for the double confrontation against Namibia for the qualifiers of CAN 2024, despite the forfeit of Choupo-Moting. As a justification, the Cameroonian coach, speaking of Danny Namaso (Porto striker) and Jean-Pierre Nsame, will launch: "There is no problem with anyone, I exchanged with them, but they asked me to wait".

In the meantime, Nsame, who celebrates his 1th birthday today, May 30, will continue to delight Young Boys Bern supporters.

Jean-Pierre Nsame, happy striker in Switzerland, frustrated in Cameroon

Jean-Pierre Nsame, happy striker in Switzerland, frustrated in Cameroon

Zero minutes in Qatar

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest