Not for the first time, Cameroon have managed to forge an impressive - unexpected - tournament run from the depths of pre-competition controversy, and could end an unlikely month in Morocco with a first ever Women's Africa Cup of Nations crown on Sunday.
If they defeat Malawi in Rabat, it will be a first success after the Indomitable Lionesses have previously failed on three previous attempts in the final, and would be due - in no small part - to the 'odd couple' coaching team of Valentine Nguele and Dimitri Lipoff on the touchline, a managerial double act handpicked by FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto'o.
Certainly, few would have predicted this outcome when Eto'o unveiled his new-look technical team barely six weeks before the tournament.
Cameroon had not even qualified for WAFCON originally, having been defeated by Algeria in October - a loss which cost Jean-Baptiste Bisseck his job, and appeared to suggest the decline of an ageing side that had previously been among Africa's most consistent forces.
However, an expanded tournament offered Cameroon a reprieve, and while former head coach Alain Djeumfa appeared set to return to take the reins, according to reports in December at least, the delay of the WAFCON from its original March slot may have prompted a rethink behind the scenes.
Indeed, had the WAFCON not been expanded, Cameroon would not be present. Had the WAFCON not been delayed, the Indomitable Lions probably wouldn't have stumbled upon the Nguele-Lipoff coaching double act.
In June, the pair were appointed by Eto'o; former international goalkeeper Nguele - head coach - becoming the first woman to take the top job for the national side, and Frenchman Lipoff arriving in the newly created role of 'squad coordinator'.
On paper, it was an unorthodox set-up.
Nguele, despite holding a CAF A License, had predominantly spent her coaching career as a goalkeeper coach, although she was influential in FC Ebolowa's Cameroonian title success in 2024. Nonetheless, she had precious little coaching experience outside her homeland.
Lipoff, however, was the complete opposite.
His CV contains experience with Paris Saint-Germain, OL Lyonnes, the Russian national team, spells in China, promotion to Serie A with Napoli Femminile, and some success with Al Ahly's women's team in Egypt.
The set-up prompted some uncertainty in Cameroon; how will the duo divide the labour? Will there be a clash of authority? How will their contrasting backgrounds - sporting, cultural - mesh or conflict?
But it is precisely the specifics of these two pathways that made the pair such an unlikely - but complementary - duo for Eto'o.
"I thank the president of FECAFOOT, Samuel Eto'o, for choosing Lipoff," Nguele told ESPN. "He has great experience in the football world; he's been in Europe, Asia, Africa - he has real expertise in women's football. "
We complete each other, we understand each other, we complement each other. I lift him, he lifts me, and we are in agreement in all of the decisions."
Lipoff, speaking to ESPN about how his relationship with Nguele works, opted to thank her for facilitating and helping his transition to Cameroonian football.
"I've come into a new country, so you need the locals," the 42-year-old began. "It's simple. To understand the football, to understand the culture, to understood how to manage.
"She knows Cameroonian football, so I need her, she needs me."
The mutual dependence and understanding between the pair has become one of the subplots of Cameroon's unlikely tournament run.
On the touchline, there's no obvious attempt to disguise the arrangement. Both are conspicuous, both communicate with the players, both contribute. They take it in turns to step up, shout their instructions, share their orders, rather than one truly wielding the power while the other operates as a ceremonial figurehead.
Nguele takes press conferences, Lipoff takes mixed zones. Friction has not been present.
"Honestly, it's very natural," Lipoff continued. "We came to Cameroon to share our experience and work with Cameroonian coaches.
"Nobody pushed us to do it like this, or to train like this. It's very natural. It's the way we feel good, we feel balanced, and I think this is the way we perform well."
As well as Lipoff, Nguele also paid tribute to the foreign support staff that have supported her during the campaign in North Africa.
"I come from Cameroon, with experience of Cameroonian football," she continuned. "The fitness coach, Philippe [Ciccarini], is very good, with very big experience in French football, and he teaches us. Frederic [Anikine], the goalkeeper coach, did 20 years in Africa.
"They are good people with enormous qualities."
They've each written their own story so far. Now comes the part they'll both remember. ✨
���� CAMEROON VS MALAWI ����
��️ 16 JULY 2026. #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2026 pic.twitter.com/82FImYrKzG- CAF Women Football (@CAFwomen) August 14, 2026
Together, this serenity around the coaching duo has helped Cameroon moved past a troubled build-up, where two of the squad's most experienced heads - Ajara Nchout Njoya and Falone Meffometou - departed the camp following a training session.
The pair, not present in Morocco, have barely been discussed as the team have focused on the job at hand, although reports at the time detailed tensions over player dynamics in the squad camp in Ozda, unhappiness with fitness tests, and enforced changes to the squad hierarchy.
The experienced duo were not the only ones omitted from the final group as Nguele and Lipoff (presumably along with Eto'o) attempted to oversee a culture shift.
At the time, it appeared in danger of becoming yet another episode of the kind of chronic turbulence that has too often accompanied Cameroonian teams heading into major tournaments.
Instead, they've cut a united front, from the coaching team to the choreographed celebrations, to the rallying around young goalkeeper Michaely Bihina, whose performances have underpinned their run to the final.
Morocco vs Cameroon. The full penalty shootout. Heart-stopping from the first kick to the last. ����#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2026 pic.twitter.com/hGQeJndHDo
- CAF Women Football (@CAFwomen) August 13, 2026
If the local media has given Nguele the lion's share of the credit for cleaning the stables, Lipoff has begun to infuse the set-up with his knowledge of the wider game. Specifically, his recent experience with Morocco's U-20 and U-23 sides - he believes - gave Cameroon the edge against the Atlas Lionesses in Wednesday's semifinal.
"Of course, of course, I knew all of these players," he shared with ESPN after the Central Africans' penalty-shootout victory. "I trained them, and that's why the plan worked."
Nguele is now one match from writing history as the first coach to win the WAFCON for under-achievers Cameroon, where she could succeed where several male coaches have failed.
Given the context - the non-qualification, her history as a goalkeeper coach, the tournament being moved, the limited preparation time - it would be a particularly outstanding achievement.
"It's a feat," Nguele concluded. "As we often say, behind a great lady stands a great man - and she is surrounded by great guys.
"I thank my collaborators who brought me to this level as a woman. It's a pride to show my sisters who do this job that we can go all the way.
"It's not easy. It's very difficult, to train ourselves, to resists all sorts of storms. It's not at all easy.
"It's really a feeling of joy [to reach the final], but this win I dedicate to all female coaches."
The Nguele-Lipoff duo have already vindicated Eto'o's decision and overcome storms aplenty to reach this point. Now, if this unlikely double act can navigate one final tempest - the Chawinga sisters in full flight - they'll make Cameroonian history together.