Who is Nouhou Tolo, the new darling of the Cameroonian public?
A native of Douala, the young left-back of the Seattle Sounders in Major League Soccer (American D1), is the new darling of the Cameroonian public. He is also unanimous among supporters, who see him as the real detonator of the game of the Indomitable Lions. A true devourer of space and capable of occupying on his own his left lane of his team, like a certain Roberto Carlos at the team with Real Madrid and Brazil.
Omnipresent in the left lane of Cameroon against Burkina Faso (2-1), last Sunday in the opening match of the 33th edition of the African Cup of Nations, the young Nouhou Tolo is now talking about him. It was he who caused the first penalty for the equalizer of the Indomitable Lions (40 ‘). Lively, scathing, rough and very generous in the effort, Nouhou Tolo could have played with a country other than Cameroon. Indeed, he is the son of Malian immigrants in Central Africa. His mother Aïcha Tolo is said to have died, while his father Issiaka Tolo still lives with his siblings. One of them is said to be currently married in Bamako, Mali.
To better understand the career of this young talent who seduces all of Cameroon and several English and Italian clubs, we went to meet his uncle El Hadj Hamidou Tolo, in the rue Awka Palace in Douala. » Nouhou Tolo is my son. I am the little brother of his father Issiaka Tolo. Already at the age of 8, a Cameroonian came to see me at home with the intention of taking him to a training center in Douala, after being seduced by his talent. As he also wanted to play football, after talking to him, I finally agreed to send him with his brother, my son Mohamed Tolo. But, the latter wanted more to study than to play football. I then sent him to Mali and Nouhou continued to play football », He said.
» He was therefore trained here in Cameroon, but his first transfer was blocked because of the status of Rainbow Bamenda. But, Nouhou Tolo who really wanted to win in the football world continues to work to integrate other local clubs in Cameroon and he is part of the group which had brought up Unisport de Bafang in Cameroonian Ligue 1, before finally signing a contract in USL with the Seattle Sounders reserve team in 2016. A year later, he moved up to the first team in Major League Soccer. He was the winner of the MLS Cup in 2019 “, Also revealed El Hadj Hamidou Tolo, who is obviously proud of what his son shows so far.
In addition, El Hadj Hamidou Tolo, also indicated that a coach of Stade Malien, whose name he forgot, had come to Cameroon to play a match against the Nouhou Tolo club and had fallen under the spell of the player. But, one thing that will go unanswered. The young Nouhou was thus contacted at one point by the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT), to play first with the Cameroonian junior national team, then the U20, U23 and now occupies a prominent place in the group of Indomitable Lions from Cameroon, which is participating in this final phase of CAN 2022.
Bréhima DIAKITÉ, special envoy to Cameroon
