Rigobert Song - International Career

International Career

Considered a key player for Cameroon for over a decade, Song played in the 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2010 World Cup. He made his international debut on September 22, 1993, in a game against Mexico.

At only 17 years old, Song was given a surprise call-up to Henri Michel's Cameroon squad for the 1994 World Cup and played two games at the finals. The defender played in the group matches games against Sweden and Brazil. He received a red card in the match against Brazil, becoming the youngest player ever to be sent off in a World Cup, aged 17. Led by ageless striker Roger Milla, the Indomitable Lions were knocked out in the group stages. The 24 years and 42 days age gap between Milla (42 years and 35 days) and 17-year-old future captain Song (17 years and 358 days) became (and remains) the largest between two team-mates in World Cup history.

The defender then participated at the 1998 World Cup. Led by Song, Patrick Mboma and 17 year old young striker Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon were eliminated in the group stage, following a draw with Austria (1-1), a loss to Italy (3-0) and another draw with Chile. After receiving a red card in the last game against La Roja, Song broke another record as he became the first player ever to be sent off at two different World Cups. Zinedine Zidane, who was also sent off at this World Cup, has since achieved this feat as well. Zidane received his second red card in the final of the 2006 tournament.

Song was a part of the squads that won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. After winning the 23rd edition of the football championship of Africa, The Indomitable Lions featured in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but were again eliminated in the group stage, following a 1-1 draw with Ireland, a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia and a 2-0 defeat to Germany.

Song's next tournament was the 2003 Confederations Cup. The Indomitable Lions qualified for the semifinals, after wins against Brazil (0-1) and Turkey (1-0) and a draw with the United States. The defender then led his team against Colombia in the knockout stage. In the 72nd minute of the game, Song's longtime friend, Marc-Vivien Foé, collapsed in the centre circle, with no other players near him. Foé died the same day due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a hereditary condition known to increase the risk of sudden death during physical exercise. Cameroon eventually won the game 1-0, but lost to France in the finals after extra time.

Although Cameroon did not manage to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, the team participated in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In the tournament, Song became the most capped player in Cameroon history. After three wins over Angola (3-1), Togo (2-0) and Congo DR (2-0) in the group stage, the Indomitable Lions were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Côte d'Ivoire, following a 24-shot shoot-out in which Cameroon was defeated 12-11.

Rigobert Song was also part of the Cameroon squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. After a 4-2 loss to Egypt in the Group C opening match, the veteran defender led his team to wins against Zambia (5-1) and Sudan (3-0). In the first game against The Pharaohs, Song's nephew Alex made his international debut for Cameroon, joining Rigobert on the pitch at half time. The captain then carried the Indomitable Lions to the knockout stage, in which they defeated Tunisia (2-3) and Ghana (0-1) before being eliminated in the finals by Egypt 1-0. The only goal, made by Mohamed Aboutrika, came after a mistake by Song, who covered his face with his shirt during the opponent's celebration.

On 31 May 2008, Song got the first goal for Cameroon after nine minutes of a 2-0 home win against Cape Verde. With this win, the Indomitable Lions took an early lead in Group 1 of the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In 2009 Song was dropped as captain of the Cameroonian national team, from the World Cup/ African Nations Cup qualifiers by new coach Paul le guen, but still remained the player that defined the image of the national team. Le Guen eventually appointed Samuel Eto'o as the new captain. On August 12, 2009, Cameroon's most-capped player was left out of the starting eleven for the first time in 10 years in a friendly game against Austria. In 16 years with the national team, he has been to the African Nations cup, a record eight times (serving as Captain in five competitions excerpt in South Africa 1996, Burkina Faso in 1998 and Angola 2010). Song holds the record of most consecutive games played in the African Nations Cup- with 35 first team games. Song won the nations cup twice in Nigeria 2000 and Mali 2002 and losing to Egypt in the finals of Ghana 2008. In 2010 Cameroon was featured in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, but failed to win the tournament. On January 13, 2010, the Lions lost in a 1–0 group-stage upset against Gabon but won a match against Zambia four days later with the score of 3-2. Despite being considered as an experienced player, some of Song's mistakes in the tournament were called "self-destructive": in the first game against Gabon, a defensive error by the veteran defender allowed Daniel Cousin's goal, and against Zambia in the second he headed a cross towards his own goal. The team still qualified for the quarter finals with 4 points after a draw with Tunisia on January 21, in which Song came in as a substitute. Two days later Cameroon was eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations, following a 3-1 loss (after extra time) to Egypt. In the match, Aurelien Chedjou was preferred to Song, ending the former captain's run of 36 successive Africa Cup of Nations matches (a total of 3201 minutes). After such events, Song was relegated to the role of backup player for a string of games as Le Guen often preferred him younger players such as Sébastien Bassong and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. In June 2011 Song transferred in Kosovo for 2 year contract 4$ in Kosovar superliga .

Although he had handed the captain's armband over to Samuel Eto'o, Song was still selected for the 2010 World Cup squad, making him the only player to play in the 1994 and 2010 World Cup finals. He was also the most experienced player to be featured in South Africa 2010 with 136 caps for his National team.

The veteran defender did not play in Cameroon's opening game of the 2010 World Cup against Japan in South Africa. The Samurai Blue won the game with the score of 1-0, with a goal from Keisuke Honda. After the match, Song and some senior players claimed that Cameroon's youngsters were not up to standard and asked coach Le Guen to reconsider his line for the next step against Denmark. However, Song was also omitted in the next game with Denmark, which Cameroon lost 2-1. With the loss, they became the first team to be mathematically eliminated in the 2010 World Cup. The former captain was eventually featured in the last game against the Netherlands, his 4th World Cup participation. Song entered the match as a substitute for Nicolas N'Koulou in the 73rd minute of the second half. The Indomitable Lions went out of the tournament with a 1-2 loss. Song retired from international duty on 1 August 2010 after 137 appearances.