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Talk about Eric: Chopo-Moting is Cameroon's hope in the World Cup Israel today

2022-11-24T05:13:38.539Z


After years he was seen as a gimmick and moved between teams only on a free transfer, now in the last line of his career he is receiving exciting recognition • With 10 goals and three assists in 12 games since the beginning of October in the uniform of Bayern Munich, the 33-year-old striker arrives in Qatar with great expectation to take the lions to the knockout stage


Last summer after a long saga that also reached unpleasant lines, Robert Lewandowski left Bayern Munich.

The Bavarians heaped difficulties on the Pole, who wanted a new challenge in Barcelona, ​​and claimed that they had not prepared a suitable replacement for a striker who has scored non-stop in the last eight seasons at the Allianz Arena.

Out of this pit and completely contrary to expectations, the one who took the place in Bayern's wing and became in a few weeks one of the most talked about players in the world is the 33-year-old Eric Maxim Chopo-Moting.

Chopo-Motting, who until recently has not received much attention in his career, has scored 11 goals and added three assists in 12 games since the start of October, helping Bayern take control of top spot in the Bundesliga after a poor start to the season and, of course, helping them finish the The houses in the Champions League are in perfect balance at home with Barcelona and Inter.

He is also ranked fourth in the top five European leagues in involvement in goals and assists per 90 minutes, with only Arling Holland, Neymar and Lewandowski, who in the meantime continues to pierce nets at the Camp Nou, ahead of him in this impressive figure.

This period of the striker is undoubtedly the best period of his career and we are talking about a player who throughout his years was considered a gimmick that was not so successful.

The fact that throughout his career he passed teams in a free pass gave him the status of a striker who was only meant to close corners.

It started when he moved from Hamburg to Mainz, then from Mainz to Schalke, from Schalke to Stoke City also for free, from Stoke City to PSG and from PSG to Bayern Munich.

Yes, all in free transfers.

All of these teams gave up on him, and it may have happened a lot because of him.

Now at Bayern he is suddenly having an exciting renaissance.

Chopo-Moting in Cameroon training near Song, photo: AFP

"At Bayern he found a home," said Bundesliga commentator Dan O'Hagen.

"Almost by default, they had to let Ciupo-Muting play and it was like the missing piece of the puzzle. With him, Bayern look 10 times better. Nobody saw it coming. He's amazing, it's the big unexpected success of this season in German football," he added.

The greatness of Chopo-Moting is not only because of his ability to score, but no less than that - his ability to improve the players who surround him.

He may look heavy and a slow player but he never stops moving, he knows how to play with his back to the goal and open up areas for the wing players and makes the whole attack next to him much more dangerous.

Also, this is a very likable player in the dressing room, who never stops instilling a good atmosphere, which can be seen in the happiness of his teammates with every goal he scores.

Celebrating in a Bayern uniform, photo: AP

Throughout his career, Choupo-Moting did get opportunities in the Cameroon national team but never managed to stand out in the national uniform.

He played 69 games in his homeland, scoring 19 goals, but especially in recent years, his relationship with the Cameroonian association has not been very good.

The striker missed two of the African Championship qualifiers in March 2021, against Rwanda and Cape Verde when the Cameroonian association sent his summons to themselves, in what seemed to the player like a deliberate mistake, when most of his arrows and those of his family were directed at coach Tony Cancio.

Then, in February 2022, the Portuguese coach did not use him for the entire semi-final of the African Championship which ended in a penalty shootout loss to Egypt.

His father announced that his son would not play again under Cancio and the coach was fired at the end of that month by Samuel Eto'o, the chairman of the association who wanted to open a new page with Chopo-Moting and recognized his professional and social strength.

Now the one standing on the lines in the Cameroon national team is one of its greatest symbols of all time - Rigobert Song.

Song is expected to continue giving credit to the most loved player in the team - Vicente Abubakar.

Cameroon's captain and talisman, who has started five of the six games since Song's appointment in February, is expected to lead Cameroon's forward line at the World Cup, but Chopo-Moting's importance now as a second striker alongside Aboubakar could be the difference between a solid tournament and a fairytale one for the Lions '.

Even if he doesn't open at 11, his cordial personality, the fact that he constantly tries to keep a smile on his face and the fact that he has no ego, can be a significant X-factor.

The fact that he got used to being second fiddle to Neymar and Mbappe in PSG, and then to Lewandowski in Bayern without showing a hint of murmur, can give Cameroon, already today against Switzerland, something it hasn't had in years.

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Source: israelhayom

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