OXNARD : Cameroon Team to Train at College

It’s official: The Cameroon Indomitable Lions will prepare for the 1994 World Cup soccer championships at Oxnard College.

The Federation Internationalle de Football Assn. last week formally approved Oxnard College as a training site for the soccer team from Cameroon, one of three African nations participating in this summer’s World Cup.

Oxnard city and college officials are scheduled to meet with Cameroon representatives today at the college. The team’s 35 players, coaches and trainers are expected to arrive in May.

“This is an opportunity to put the city of Oxnard and Oxnard College on the world map,” Mayor Manuel Lopez said. “We hope that the economic opportunities afforded to the city will benefit our hotels, restaurants and retail businesses.”

Oxnard College was chosen last week as a training venue along with Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount University and UC Irvine.

In recent months, workers and volunteers have transformed an open field at the college into a world-class soccer field.

Cameroon, a French-speaking nation on the coast of West Africa, was one of the most popular teams of the last World Cup competition, held four years ago in Italy.

Nearly 300 nations will participate in the World Cup event, held every four years since 1930. This is the first time that the United States has hosted the event.

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena will be one of nine sites nationwide holding the soccer matches from June 17 to July 17.