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16 year old Cathy Biya or rather Catherine Biya  made her debut for the Cameroon Women’s national in the intercontinental play offs finals against Portugal. The second youngest player in the play offs, her debut didn’t go as planned as Cameroon were defeated by Portugal 2-1, putting an end to their hopes of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

However the 16 year Old Eclair FF Goalkeeper got all cameroonians talking with her performance and confidence despite the fact that it was just her first match with the senior national team.

Ange Bawou was shown a Red card during Cameroon’s 2-0 win against Thailand. It left many Cameroonians wondering who will be in the goal post in the crucial match against the Portuguese selection.
Coach Gabriel Zabo had two options at hand: either to trust Marthe Ongmahan, who has more experience in international competitions, as a substitute goalkeeper, or to go for Catherine Biya who just earned her first Senior international call up. Gabriel Zabo went for the second option and many will agree that his decision definitely paid off despite Cameroon’s defeat. His decision has helped exposed Cathy Biya talent to the world as many media sites are currently posting about her.

Most goalkeepers always show signs of lack of confidence in their first matches with the national team but however this was not the case for the former AWA FC player. She made 3 saves in the match and showed great precision in knowing when to go out and claim the ball or not.

 

The 16 year old plays for Cameroon Womens super league club Eclair de Sa’a and is undoubtedly one of the best Goalkeepers in the league. No Goalkeeper made more one on one saves than her in the Guinness Super League last season.

 

Who is Catherine Biya?

Born 18/07/2006 (16 years and 6 months old) in Yaoundé, she went to lycée billingue de Essos Yaoundé.

She formerly played for AWA FC before joining Eclair FF de sa’a.

She was shortlisted for the U17 national team before finally called to represent the senior women’s team

Cathy Biya as she is popularly called has had personal Individual training sessions with 26 year old Inter Milan and Cameroon Goalkeeper Andre Onana. That could explain her confidence with the ball on her feet which is proving essential to modern day goalkeepers.

Speaking after her call up to the Lionesses den in New Zealand, here is what she had to say about her reaction when she got the news of her call up

“I was in training when I got back, it was my mom who called me and congratulated me that I had just been called into the final list. I was super happy. Left the U17s directly for the seniors? really it’s a thing of phew!!! Here I adapt very well. There is no stress. The girls are super welcoming. We help each other, we encourage each other and we stick together. In training it’s almost the same exercises. we give ourselves fully. We’re going to the world. It’s the top. It is the best competition. “

Watch full interview here

What do you make of Catherine Biya’s performance today?