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Previously a little-known figure among many football fans, Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar has become the star of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations. Aboubakar is by a long way its top goalscorer so far – boasting five formidable goals. FRANCE 24 takes a look back at his career.
As hotly tipped prospects like Senegal and Algeria have underperformed in the group stages, hosts Cameroon look like one of the top contenders to take this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
In large part that is thanks to their talismanic captain and goalscoring machine Vincent Aboubakar. The tournament’s opening match saw him convert two successive penalties with consummate confidence. When Cameroon injected dynamism into a previously goal-shy Africa Cup of Nations with their 4-1 thumping of Ethiopia last week, Aboubakar led the way with two goals in three minutes – exemplifying the lacerating speed and ruthless finishing skills that have taken the tournament by storm.
Cameroon fans tweeted fulsome praise after that performance, comparing the 29-year-old to Lionel Messi and arguing that club football’s faltering giants Barcelona and Manchester United should snap him up.
But Aboubakar has been an overlooked talent in club football. Born in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé in 1992, he started out as a teenager playing for Coton Sport, based in Garoua in the country’s north. Aboubakar then got his big move to Europe in 2010, joining Ligue 2 side Valenciennes.
He made his mark early on with a hat-trick against Boulogne in France’s League Cup. Yet over the next few years Aboubakar’s form flagged. By 2013, he had scored just nine goals in 35 appearances for Valenciennes – and the club let him go on a free transfer to Lorient, another Ligue 2 side.
Here Aboubakar sparkled – scoring 16 goals in 35 appearances…
Source : france24
