- Jules Armand Kooh is Cameroon league’s top scorer with ten goals in eleven matches this season.
- The Astre of Douala striker is one of the great misses in Rigobert Song’s provincial list for the Africa cup of nations
Despite his impressive performance and achievements in the league, he was surprisingly left out of the expanded 49-player roster. What could be the reason for this exclusion?
Rigobert Song’s provincial squad for the Africa cup of nations was made public this week, with fans of local football noticing the notable absence of the league’s top scorer Jules Armand Kooh.
The 24-year-old who plays for Astre of Douala was snubbed in the enlarged list for the AFCON , which features seven local players alongside 42 internationals.
His absence has raised some unanswered questions from some fans of the league who would have loved to see Kooh among the preselected, especially in the wake of Bryan Mbeumo’s injury. However, that is not the case.
Jules has been in excellent form this season. In eleven games, the striker has netted ten goals, offered three assist, leading the highly contested goal scoring chart.
Kooh is not just a prolific striker but also possess physical strength, which enables him to hold off defenders and jockey for position. His good touch, and exceptional finishing, has seen him score three braces this far.
The 2023-2024 season can be considered his breakout year, since his elite one debut in 2019 with Avion academy. His two seasons with stade Renard wasn’t so productive, but the forward has finally found his groove with the Brazilians of Bepanda.
This is his second time with the Douala-based club, with the first season being the 2022-2023 period where he scored five goals across all competition for the Brazilians.
Considering his league trajectory and achievements so far, it will not be far-fetch to think he deserves to feature in at least the preliminary list of the Indomitable Lions. His absence can, however, be explained by several factors.
Armand is short of continental experience. Rigobert Song named three local strikers in his list of 49. Leonel Ateba, Emmanuel Mahop and Patient Wassou. All these three players have had a feel of international football with either their clubs or the junior national teams.
Ateba and Mahopp have played with the senior team in previous competitions, while Wassou has been frequent with the junior selections. With Coton sport, Wassou has also featured in two CAF Champions League. The absence of these experience in Kooh’s journey puts him at a loss In front of these other strikers, especially with the plethora of international strikers present in the Lion’s den.
Rigobert Song, is focused more on improving the defense than the attack. The Indomitable Lions have always had talented strikers who can score goals against any opponent. They have netted seven times in their last five games, but have also let in three goals, failing to keep a clean sheet. This indicates that the defense is vulnerable and needs reinforcement, and Armand is not necessary the right profile for it.
This are only speculations, with Song being the only one with answers to this question. Nevertheless, Jules Armand Kooh remains the best striker in the league at the moment. He could be a valuable asset for the African nations’ championship qualifiers if he gets selected.
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