Cameroon goalkeeping legend Jose Antoine Bell has evaluated the chances of Marumo Gallants’ Emile Lako rising to become one of the best goalkeepers his country has ever produced.
Lako was called up for the Indomitable Lions’ 2027 AFCON qualifiers against Comoros and Congo Brazzaville, as well as the high-profile international friendly match against Ivory Coast. He was an unused substitute when Cameroon beat Comoros 3-1 on Thursday, a match in which US Boulogne’s and former Sunderland shot-stopper Blondy Noukeu started in goal.
Montpellier HSC keeper Simon Ngapandouetnbu deputised for Noukeu together with Lako. Cameroon’s goalkeeping situation has seen Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana, on loan at Trabzonspor, being frozen out of the national team.
The Central Africans have a rich history of top goalkeepers illuminating world football. Two-time African Footballer of the Year Thomas N’Kono, former Marseille and Bordeaux’s Bell, Jacques Songo’o, ex-Espanyol and Malaga captain Carlos Kameni and Alioum Boukar are some of the celebrated Cameroonian goalkeepers.
BELL ASSESSES MARUMO GALLANTS GOALKEEPER EMILE LAKO’S POTENTIAL
![Emile Lako [R] celebrating with his Cameroon teammates](https://farpost.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Emile-Lako-celebrating-with-his-.jpg)
“Any player called up to the national team has the opportunity to show his talent and improve because you are training with the best. This is where you are going to have your real assessment because the national team is the highest level of competition,” Bell told FARPost.
“Now it’s going to show in the next matches, next year, how he can be for the team. So, it’s good news for him. It’s what every player expects in his career and how long he is going to stay with the national team.
“He has to fight hard [to become Cameroon’s number one goalkeeper] because in the national team you are never assured that you are the one going to play. You have got those who are called to play today [Thursday], and he wasn’t there. So you have to work hard to stay in that position,” added Bell about the goalkeeper who arrived in South Africa in August 2024 from Cotonsport Garoua in his home country.
“This is what I wish for him [to be counted among Cameroon’s legendary goalkeepers]. I wish he could do that, but let us just follow until he plays his first game with the national team, and then we see the way he behaves on the pitch.”
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