Exclusive: I Want To Play 150 Games For Cameroon - Rigobert Song

The Cameroon veteran is 19 games away from fulfilling his ambition...

Rigobert Song, Cameroon (Getty Images)
Goal.com: How do you feel after qualifying for the World Cup finals next year, reaching a personal appearance record with the team in the process?

Rigobert Song: Personally it was great to reach that figure [131 caps, a record for the African nation] because it was not something that I ever thought about when I started playing in my country. Helping the national team to qualify for the World Cup finals was something that we all dreamed about after we missed out on going to Germany last time.

Goal.com: Do you have any great ambitions?

Song: I am physically fine and anything like that would depend on the coaches. I would really like to play 150 games for Cameroon. A round figure like that is not easy for any player to reach.

Goal.com: Qualification for the World Cup finals was not easy...

Song: We began badly and after two games there were a lot of doubts. The Confederation changed the coach and after the arrival of Paul Le Guen things have greatly improved. We are delighted with what we have achieved.

Goal.com: In 2010 there is the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup finals. That's a lot to prepare for.

Song: In Angola we will be seen as favourites, like normal, and that does not help us much. But the pressure will be shared by the whole team and we will play to win the trophy. The World Cup is even bigger and a lot will depend upon who we play, how we play and other things. But know that we will also play at our best and will go into that without any problems.

Goal.com: Has Samuel Eto'o been important in the last few games?

Song: Samuel is a world star and he gives everything when he plays for the national team. He suffered a great deal by not going to Germany but now he is so happy. He has been very important to us.

Francisco Acedo, Goal.com
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Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

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