"Don`t confuse experience with age"- Geremi

Disappointed Cameroonian defender, Geremi Njitap says it is needless to confuse experience with age and let alone attribute it to a team's defeat.

Cameroon are losing finalist at the 26th Africa Cup of Nations that ended in Ghana on Sunday with many saying the team has aged and needed fresh limbs.

"What you don't know is that apart from me, Song and Job, none of the players is 30 or getting close to that bracket.

"I started football early and so are some of my colleagues and I have learnt that so often, it is easy for people to confuse experience with age."

Ghana's competition was the defender's fifth and he says lifting the trophy would have crowned a special journey for himself, Samuel Eto'o Fils and Rigobert Song.

"Winning the trophy would have meant a third for the three of us and that is partly the reason why we are very disappointed we lost tonight."

But even in defeat, the former Chelsea player says there are lots of positives to learn from the team, which started the three-week journey in a horrible manner that left pundits ruling them out among the favourites.

"It is difficult to accept that we lost; but the positive thing about today is that we had to lose in the final after many had ruled us out from the very start."

Geremi said the competition had been the best of the five he has attended so far and praised the quality of play at Ghana 2008.

Cameroon was chasing a fifth Nations Cup glory to equal that of Egypt but lost 0-1 to Egypt, who retained the trophy to become the only country to have won it for the sixth time.

LINE UP:

EGYPT: El Hadari Essam, Mohamed Shady, Hany Said, Fathy Ahmed, Hosny Abdrabou, Mohamed Emad,/Mohamed Zidan, Mowad Sayed, Hassan Ahmed, Hassan Zaky Amr/Shawky Mohamed, Gomaa Wael, Mohamed Aboutrika/Saed Ibrahim.

CAMEROON: Carlos Idris Kameni, Bill Tchato, Rigobert Song, Thimothee Atouba, Geremi Njitap, Samnuel Eto'O Fills, Emana Achille/Iddrissou Mamadou, Allian Nkong, Joel Epalle/Modeste Mbami, Alexander Song/Binya Gilles Augsutine, Stephane Mbami.