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The New York Red Bulls' Anatole Abang is in Nantes with his national team as Cameroon ready for the considerable challenge of taking on a France side gearing up for what is expected to be a serious challenge for the Euro 2016 title.
Les Bleus will contest UEFA's biggest international tournament on home soil with the hope that a star-studded squad (including Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, and Andre-Pierre Gignac) can unite to produce something greater than the sum of its parts: a major international trophy.
Cameroon is also using this friendly to prepare itself for more important matters: the team travels to Mauritania after this game for a potentially decisive match in both sides' 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns.
It has not been the smoothest-running training camp for head coach Hugo Broos, who has recently suffered the indignity of being jilted by veteran 'keeper Carlos Kameni. The roster has also been relatively slow to assemble, with players still making their way to the team as recently as the weekend before this Monday match. And there are several senior players - for example: Stephane Mbia, Sebastien Bassong, Landry N'Guemo, and Benjamin Moukandjo - missing from the camp altogether, for a variety of reasons.
Those reasons, however, create opportunity for younger and lesser-known players. RBNY's Abang is the youngest player in the current Cameroon squad and any playing time at all will be a considerable boost to his present and future career. The 19-year-old has fallen out of favor with his club recently, struggling to get any minutes on the field in MLS in recent weeks - but if he can get time against France (and Mauritania, when the time comes) he will inevitably raise his profile, as well as gaining invaluable experience.