Soccer-World-Cameroon penpix of likely squad for World Cup finals

By Mark Gleeson April 28 (Reuters) - Cameroon's squad for the World Cup finals is likely to comprise the following 23 players: Goalkeepers: Guy-Rolland Assembe (En Avant Guingamp) Age 28; 11 caps. Back-up goalkeeper who went to the last World Cup finals, just a month after his international debut in friendly against Georgia. Has had game time in Ligue 1, but spent most of his career in the lower leagues in France at Nantes, Valenciennes, Nancy and now Guingamp. He has impressive body builder-like physique. Charles Itandje (Konyaspor) Age 31; 7 caps. Hero of Cameroon's qualification with several key saves in the play-off against Tunisia. Paris-born former French junior international who declared for Cameroon in 2010, but took until last March to make his debut. Spent three seasons without playing a single league game at Liverpool and has since gone to Greece and, now, a loan spell in Turkey. Sammy Ndjock (Fethiyespor) Age 24; 1 cap. Debut in coach Volker Finke's first match away in Ukraine where he kept a clean sheet, but has not played since. Will likely be third in the pecking order in Brazil. Born in Cameroon but grew up in France where he was a junior at Lille. He was at Antalyaspor for three seasons, but now playing regularly in the second tier in Turkey. Defenders: Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Queens Park Rangers) Age 30; 20 caps. Tottenham Hotspur fullback on loan at QPR whose wild hairstyles tend to overshadow his attributes as a quick defender; but is one prone to make costly errors. Cameroon chased him for several years but he held out for a chance to play for France, where he was born to a Cameroonian father and French mother. Debuted for the Indomitable Lions in 2009 and played at the last World Cup finals, but then had a spell of self-imposed exile because of dissatisfaction with the arrangements around the side. Henri Bedimo (Olympique Lyon) Age 30; 28 caps. Left-back who missed out on selection for the last World Cup, having played at the African Nations Cup finals in Angola earlier that year. Has been in France since the age of 15 and played for seven different clubs, including Montpellier when they won Ligue 1 in 2012. Moved to Lyon on a three-year deal last summer. Gaeten Bong (Olympiakos) Age 26; 11 caps. Born in Cameroon but brought up in France, where he spent his formative years at Metz. He is a former French under-21 international and debuted for the Indomitable Lions just before the last World Cup, when he competed in one game. He has made only one international appearance in the last year. Aurelien Chedjou (Galatasaray) Age 28; 29 caps. Central defender, and occasional defensive midfielder, of some presence, but with a penchant for eccentricity. The Turkish champions bought him last summer from Lille where he won Ligue 1 honours. He first went to Europe to play at Valencia, but drifted through several lower-league clubs in France before emerging at Lille. First capped in 2009 and played one match at the World Cup in South Africa. Jean-Armel Kana Biyik (Stade Rennes) Age 24; 5 caps. Born in Metz when his father Andre Kana-Biyik, who played in two World Cups for Cameroon, was competing in Ligue 1. Started his career at Le Havre, advancing through the French junior teams to Under-21 level before declaring for Cameroon and debuting last year. In the last season of a four-year contract at Rennes. His uncle Francois Omam-Biyik scored the opening goal of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Stephane Mbia (Sevilla) Age 27; 47 caps. His preferred position is defensive midfielder, but Cameroon have used him more often at right-back. When he was in Olympique Marseille's Ligue 1 championship-winning side in 2010, he was used as a centre-back. He had an unhappy time at QPR and has been on loan this season in Spain. Played in all three matches at the 2010 World Cup and also at two African Nations Cup finals. Nicolas Nkoulou (Marseille) Age 24; 44 caps. Widely regarded as being among the top up-and-coming defenders in European club football, but has had a poor season in Ligue 1. His name is often linked with Premier League clubs. Made his debut for Cameroon aged 18 and played at the last World Cup finals. Dany Nounkeu (Besiktas) Age 27; 13 caps. A teenage prodigy who moved to Europe after playing for Cameroon in the World under-17 championships in 2003, but was almost 24 when he won his first cap against Italy in 2010. Remains unable to command a regular berth in the team, but is a consistent squad selection. Galatasaray signed him on a four-year deal in 2012, but in January loaned him to rivals Besiktas. Allan Nyom (Granada) Age 25; 6 caps. Paris-born right-back who has been 'parked' in Spain since 2009, at Granada on loan from Udinese, in one of modern football's increasingly common loan arrangements. In France, he played in Ligue 2 at Arles-Avignon before Udinese bought him and sent him to Spain to gain experience, along with Ghana centre-back Jonathan Mensah. Nyom has been part of Granada's rapid ascent to La Liga and last year signed a further four-year deal with Udinese, who agreed to let him stay in Spain. Midfielders: Enoh Eyong (Antalyaspor) Age 28; 32 caps. Marco van Basten spotted Eyong's potential when he was playing in the South African league and took him to Ajax Amsterdam, but his successor Frank de Boer has not been a fan of the defensive midfielder's hard-man approach. Ajax, who loaned him briefly to Fulham, have since sold him to Antalyaspor. Eyong was suspended with Samuel Eto'o by the Cameroon football federation for eight months for his part in a player revolt over unpaid bonus money. Jean Makoun (Stade Rennes) Age 30; 68 caps. Right-sided midfielder who scored two goals in the vital qualifying win over Tunisia. Made his name at Lille before a 15 million euro ($21 million) move to Olympique Lyonnais in 2008. Gerard Houllier took him to England, but a brief spell at Aston Villa allegedly ended because he could not speak English. This season he has been embroiled in a dispute with his coach at Rennes, but remains a stalwart in the Cameroon squad. Joel Matip (Schalke 04) Age 22; 19 caps. First selected for Cameroon at the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola but did not show up for the tournament because of school exams. Played as an 18-year-old defensive midfielder at the last World Cup finals. Born in Germany, where his father played football, and has come through the junior ranks at Schalke where he is usually used at centre-back. His brother Marvin is also a Cameroon international while cousin Joseph-Desire Job played at the 2002 World Cup. Benjamin Moukandjo (Nancy) Age 25; 13 caps. Tricky left- winger who made his international debut two years ago. His goal in the decisive World Cup qualifier against Tunisia in November was an example of his ability. Moved from the Kadji Sports Academy to France aged 18, playing for Rennes, Nimes and Monaco before settling at Nancy. Landry Nguemo (Girondins Bordeaux) Age 28; 37 caps. Spotted as a 15-year-old and taken to France by Nancy, where he spent the next six years. Had a year on loan at Celtic, including playing in the Champions League, before moving in 2011 to Bordeaux. Nguemo has a driving box-to-box style, but has several players ahead of him for a role in the Indomitable Lions team. He is a keen falconer and owns a white-tailed eagle he calls 'Mr. George' in honour of George Weah. Alexandre Song (Barcelona) Age 26; 43 caps. Made up for his lack of action at club level by being the only man to play in each of Cameroon's eight qualifying matches. His tiff with Samuel Eto'o split the camp at the last World Cup finals, where he played just the opening encounter and then stayed away from the national squad for 18 months. His club career has taken in spells at Bastia, Arsenal and Charlton Athletic. Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Lorient) Age 22; 22 caps. Discovered by former coach Paul Le Guen at a training camp for home-based players ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals and won a surprise call-up. Moved to Valenciennes after the tournament in South Africa and last summer joined Lorient, for whom he has been a regular scorer this season. Eric-Maxim Choupo Moting (Mainz) Age 25; 23 caps. German-born with a Cameroonian father, who received FIFA permission to play for Cameroon at the 2010 World Cup after previously winning Under-21 caps for Germany. Started his career at Hamburg, who sent him to Nuremberg on loan and then let him go free to Mainz. Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea) Age 33; 113 caps. Arguably Africa's most successful footballer, with a record four African Footballer of the Year awards, three Champions League titles and championships medals in Spain and Italy. He played at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cups, scoring three times in seven matches and in all has 55 goals for his country. In 2011, he added the moniker "world's best-paid footballer" to his long list of accomplishments when he signed a deal at Anzhi Makchakala of Russia that earned him 20-million euros per season. Mohamadou Idrissou (Kaiserslautern) Age 34; 37 caps. Tall striker who has looked the best player to partner Eto'o over the years, but never had a settled run in the team. Recalled after a two-year hiatus after the 2010 World Cup as Cameroon struggled to find an alternative target man. He has played for the last 14 years in Germany. Achille Webo (Fenerbahce) Age 32; 52 caps. Webo holds the unusual distinction of being the only African footballer to have played in both the Libertadores Cup in South America and the UEFA Champions League. He left home to begin his search to become professional at Nacional in Uruguay in 2000 before moving to Spain in 2003. A traditional centre-forward, is now at Fenerbahce where he was constantly on target in title chase. ($1 = 0.7248 Euros) (Compiled by Mark Gleeson, edited by Tim Collings and Mike Collett)