Cameroon forward Dorinel Yondjo has set sights on scoring at least five goals at the 2023 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, and surpass the goalscoring record held by Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli and Nigeria forward scored four times en route winning the top scorer award at the 2015 edition in Niger where the Golden Eaglets finished fourth.
It remains the record for most goals scored in a single U17 tournament.
Osimhen went on to conquer the world with Nigeria at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, winning the Golden Boot after scoring 10 goals.
It was the beginning of Osimhen’s meteoric rise to prominence, and Yondjo dreams of seeing his career go in such trajectory.
“Coming to this competition, to tell you the truth, I did some research to know the very recent top scorers of this tournament,” Yondjo said on the CAF website.
“I realized that the best had never exceeded four goals and I will try to work to break this record.
“I have followed the story of Victor (Osimhen). After shining with Nigeria during the 2015 U17 AFCON and the FIFA World Cup, he signed for Wolfsburg in Germany and my dream is also to be able to sign for a big club after this competition.”
Yondjo also mentioned France and Real Madrid striker of Algerian descent, Karim Benzema as another inspiration to him, and hopes to play for Los Blancos in future.
Cameroon are the defending U-17 AFCON champions. They could be the first team to win the title three times and Yondjo says he is ready to put in his best to make it a reality.
“Personally, I want to give everything to move the team forward. I want to help the team and also individually, try to win the Golden Boot award. Teamwork will be crucial in this if we are all to achieve our goals,” he stated.
“Being the defending champion is not easy and we came here with good motivation to be able to retain our trophy.”
The Yong Indomitable Lions begin their 2023 U-17 AFCON campaign against fellow two-time champions Mali in Annaba on Thursday.
