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Cameroon settled qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations with a game to spare, which is one reason why the squad named for this match and the friendly against Gabon on September 6 is missing many - if not most - of the Lions' senior internationals.
Since the squad was named, some of the few established names called up have dropped out. Alan Nyom, Eric Choupo-Moting, and (it would appear) Clinton N'Jie have withdrawn from the roster. Head coach Hugo Broos wanted to use the September internationals to explore the depth of his player pool, and he's getting a better opportunity to do so than he had planned.
This match and the friendly that follows it will be a good chance for some emerging players to show what they can do. Broos has said he intends to give equal playing time to all called up.
So the Cameroon team that lines up against Gambia will have something of a B-team feel to it. But Broos is hoping to unearth a few future starters in September.
This is good news for Anatole Abang. This match seems to be effectively the beginning of his slow exit from RBNY.
Exiled to Denmark by the New York Red Bulls, he has a new club - Hobro IK - to impress when he gets back from international duty. He slipped out of favor at RBNY this season, and the move to Denmark suggests the fall from grace is terminal - the Red Bulls do, after all, have a perfectly good reserve team in which they can revive a player's form. But Abang has been sent away on loan until next summer, implying RBNY has determined it has no use for him in either this MLS season or the next.
He is still in his national team's plans for now. And with Choupo-Moting and N'Jie out of the squad, he moves up the depth chart for this game accordingly. He is coming into this match a little cold, since he hasn't had a lot of playing time with RBNY this season and only just arrived at Hobro. But Abang's task for the next year would seem to be to take every opportunity he can to raise his profile and get on with a career away from RBNY. The first step is to do enough to stay in Hugo Broos' plans for Cameroon - and that starts with this game.