-Paul Le Guen actually got the line up right today with one exception. He fielded 10 of the 11 players I suggested in my post on whether the Lions could be fixed or not. And we saw what Cameroon were capable of as an attacking force as a result. The line up was
Hamidou-Mbia, Nkoulou, Bassong, Assou Ekotto-Geremi, Enoh, A. Song-Emana-Webó, Eto’o

-The one spot where he didn’t get it right was starting Enoh over Makoun. In the Japan game I felt that Enoh was the worst player on the pitch as he needlessly gave possession away time and time again. Today he played a dreadful first 45 minutes and was given the hook for Makoun at the start of the second half.

-Benoît Assou Ekotto can be a very valuable offensive weapon for Cameroon. Today he was a complete defensive liability and it cost the Indomitable Lions.

-Achille Webó put in a much better performance today. He needed to step up and he did so. He intercepted Christian Poulsen’s lazy pass (Were Juventus fans laughing or crying when they saw that?) and fed Eto’o for the Cameroon goal. And he never stopped working for the second goal the rest of the way. Webó redeemed himself today as did most of his teammates.

-Samuel Eto’o was played centrally today and what happened? He delivered a world class performance. He scored the goal and hit the post later on. He also created a number of chances for his teammates throughout. In short he was a danger man the entire game. A captain’s performance and one that deserved to be rewarded with at least a point.

-What happened to the Cameroon attack today? Achille Emana and Geremi started that is what. And Eto’o was played in his real position. Emana was a real weapon today and the Danes struggled to deal with him. Emana went on a great solo run that saw him get past three Danish players, unfortunately he did not have the finish that would have capped a superb goal, one we would be seeing for some time. Emana was also denied late on in the game by a stunning save by keeper Thomas Sørensen, a save which sealed the win for Denmark and consigned Cameroon to elimination. For Emana it was a performance that only lacked a goal, a goal which would have kept Cameroon in the competition, though admittedly on life support. Geremi was also an improvement as he provided width to the midfield and crossing into the box. Something Enoh and Matip could not do.

-Alexandre Song showed why he should have been preferred to Joël Matip against Japan with a classy performance including a goal saving clearance. Why he was ever dropped is another question entirely.

-I never would have thought Vincent Aboubakar would see the pitch during the World Cup unless it was a meaningless match. Not only did he play but he came on as Cameroon were desperately seeking an equalizer and Aboubakar had a great chance at getting it only to see his strike deflected away by a Danish defender.

While it was good to see Le Guen get his line up almost spot on today, it came too little too late. And that can be blamed on only one man: Paul Le Guen. In essence Le Guen wasted Cameroon’s first game of the tournament. When you are only guaranteed three matches, wasting one is not an option. If this was the Champions League or a Domestic campaign then fine. But at the World Cup it was unacceptable. Especially since it came against the opponent that looked to be the most winnable match. For a manager to get his line up and tactics so spectacularly wrong in an opening match of a competition with just three guaranteed games is stunning. Cameroon today may have lost but they showed what they are capable of when a logical starting 11 is fielded. What would 90 minutes of Emana meant against Japan? What would 90 minutes of Eto’o playing as a striker meant against Japan? On the basis of Cameroon’s match today I believe it would have meant a win. Pure speculation I know but I truly believe had today’s starting 11 started against Japan then Cameroon would have entered this match with 3 points. And that could have changed the outcome today as Cameroon would have been under much less pressure. Instead they have been eliminated from the World Cup at the group stages for the 4th time since the 1990 team stunned the world.

And that failure is on Paul Le Guen for playing a line up that would not have even made sense in a friendly against Japan.

The simple answer is no, because in manager Paul Le Guen, they have an incompetent coach who demonstrated he has no idea what he is doing with the line up he fielded against Japan. But that is taking the easy way out. I do not believe that the Cameroonian players will quit, at least not against the Danes. Ultimately I think they will lose to Denmark but I hope they put in a more spirited showing assuming the 11 players fielded make a little more sense.

But to fix Cameroon we must know what the problems are, inept manager aside. Conventional wisdom coming into the tournament was that the two biggest issues facing Cameroon were a questionable back four and figuring out who to pair alongside Samuel Eto’o.

To be frank I was never much concerned about the first issue. True Cameroon’s defense was shambolic in Angola for the Africa Cup of Nations, but that was not the first choice back four that was fielded by Le Guen. For one it took until the match against Zambia to reveal that Rigobert Song could no longer be a starter against teams with pacy forwards which Zambia had in James Chamanga and Jacob Mulenga. So in some ways the match against Zambia was a blessing as it showed that while Rigobert Song could still play a role, that role was not as a starter. The tournament also showed that Nicolas Nkoulou was ready to be the leader of the back line. Another reason I was not worried about the defense was because both Sébastien Bassong and Benoît Assou Ekotto were not available in Angola, Bassong had not been called up for some mystery reason and Assou Ekotto was injured. Finally, Stéphane Mbia was still being used primarily as a midfielder.

Of the 4 starters in defense for Cameroon against Japan only one, Nicolas Nkoulou, was a starter at the Nations Cup. While the Cameroon defense in Angola was an unmitigated disaster, Nkoulou aside, the issues were largely resolved by the time of the World Cup. Cameroon had one defensive lapse against Japan and it was a costly one as the Japanese goal came as a result. However, over the course of a 90 minute match almost every defense is going to make a few mistakes, unfortunately for Cameroon it was one in which Japan did not let them off the hook for.

The other big question mark most people had for Cameroon was who would be Eto’o’s strike partner. Again that was not an issue I was particularly worried about. Not because I thought there was an obvious candidate but because all of the candidates were likely to yield the same result. Idrissou, Webó and Choupo-Moting (who I never considered) are all capable of some good play but at the end of the day are average strikers. In short I thought it was an area of concern in which there was no real solution other than pick a player and hope he came through.

For me the secret weakness of the Indomitable Lions was the redundancy in midfield. Cameroon have a lot of quality midfielders, some of them are playing at illustrious clubs like Arsenal (Alexandre Song), Marseille (Stéphane Mbia), Lyon (Jean Makoun), Ajax (Eyong Enoh), Celtic (Landry Nguémo) and Schalke (Joël Matip). The problem with all of those players is that they are largely identical. All quality but mostly of the same variety. They are central midfielders, mostly defensive minded midfielders. None of the those players listed have the ability to consistently link the midfield up with the attack. They can all win the ball from the opposing team and run for hours but none of them are creative midfielders and none of them are capable of adding width to the team. And as we saw against Japan when Le Guen picked Matip, Makoun and Enoh the midfield was largely bypassed when Cameroon tried to create attacking moves because those three players were all incapable of doing so. The attacks mustered by Cameroon came from left back Assou Ekotto and right back Mbia.

The one midfielder Le Guen had available who was capable of creating from the midfield and providing the ball to the strikers was sitting on the bench: Achille Emana. Emana is a versatile player capable of being a more defensive minded midfielder but he is best utilized as an attacking force. He was one of the few bright spots of a Real Betis squad that got relegated from the Spanish top flight in the 2008-09 season. He was the star performer for that Betis side with his attacking forays. Emana is powerful, capable of scoring goals, creates havoc for defenders and most importantly can provide his strikers with scoring opportunities. For Cameroon he is an indispensable figure who could not afford to be left on the bench, which of course meant he was.

But one creative midfielder is not enough. That is where Geremi comes into play. The conventional logic coming into the World Cup was that Geremi was washed up and didn’t belong in the squad anymore. That logic was faulty as Geremi who can also play at right back was along with Emana and possibly Georges Mandjeck the only midfielder capable of adding width to the Cameroon midfield and generating attacks down the flanks. In his all too short cameo against Japan we saw what Geremi adds to the Cameroon attack by getting down the right flank and providing quality crosses into the box. It was also on display in the friendly against Serbia when he came on as a substitute. Geremi may not be able to play effectively for 90 minutes anymore, but for 60 minutes or so he would have added much more to the Cameroon attack than Enoh or Matip did.

Can Emana and Geremi solve the problems in Cameroon’s midfield? Probably not as there are still too many redundant players in the midfield but they have a better chance at doing so then a deployment of Makoun, Enoh and Matip. Replace one of those three with Alex Song or Nguémo and the problem remains the same. However if you take out one of the three strikers and move Eto’o to the center and take out Enoh for instance and add Emana and Geremi, then the Cameroon midfield all of the sudden has players who offer different qualities.

In sum I would like to see Le Guen drop the 4-3-3 formation against Denmark in favor of a 4-3-1-2. The back four should stay the same but in midfield I would like to see Makoun, Alex Song and Geremi on the right with Emana playing just behind Eto’o and I don’t particularly care who partners him. I think that is a team that is far more likely to pose dangerous question to the Danish defense then the utterly inept midfield of Enoh, Matip and Makoun with Eto’o sabotaged on the right wing. That is a line up that makes sense. A line up of Enoh, Matip, Makoun-Choupo-Moting, Webó and Eto’o does not.

Actually Cameroon were at their level and showed exactly what they are capable of, which is nothing. At least when they are deployed like that. How Le Guen can claim they were not at their level when the last good match they played was against Morocco in the last game of World Cup qualification is interesting news to me. I believe Cameroon have won precisely one match since qualifying unless there was a friendly that I am forgetting. And that one win was against Zambia in the Nations Cup, a match that they were extremely lucky to win benefitting from a keeper error that got Cameroon back in the game. The level Cameroon were at today has been the level they have been at for the entirety of 2010. That Le Guen cannot comprehend that shows how delusional he has become.

And if Le Guen feels the players were tense and nervous maybe he should realize that they felt that way because they play for a manager who constantly changes the side. There has been no continuity within the Cameroon line up since the Nations Cup. Le Guen is constantly trying out new players in various positions as well as different formations even experimenting with a 3-4-3 in the last friendly against Serbia. Hardly the time to try a new formation. The players may have been less tense and nervous if they were confident of their spot in the line up. Seeing three established starters such as Carlos Kameni, Alexandre Song and Achille Emana relegated to the bench for no real reason at all could hardly have made some of the players comfortable in their role in the team. Hopefully Le Guen sticks with his policy of changing up the team for the next match though as obviously this team chosen today will never pay dividends as I anticipated in the preview.

In addition to blaming the attitude of the players on the pitch Le Guen to his credit took responsibility for wasting Samuel Eto’o by playing him on the right wing. Of course a manager with any kind of acumen would have never deployed Eto’o in that position in the first place. “I chose the position for him and I take responsibility for that. You make the choice with what you have, and I wanted to do the best, but it didn’t work.” On the contrary Paul, if you wanted to do the best you would not have a fielded a starting 11 and formation that never had any chance of scoring.

Going forward in this World Cup Le Guen had this to say, “We have to win against Denmark, we know that, we will try to recover well to do our best.” It is going to take a spectacular recovery for Cameroon salvage the pride that the Indomitable Lions once had. I hope Le Guen has the capacity to oversee this resucitation but frankly I think he has no such ability. I think once Cameroon complete a World Cup of three defeats for the second time in their history Le Guen will never show his face in Cameroon again and nor should he.

If you think I am being too harsh on Le Guen let me know but personally I think he has demonstrated beyond all doubt that he is out of his league here. He did great in his first 4 games in charge as Cameroon won for successive matches to rescue World Cup qualification. Since then the only positive thing he has achieved is to get Joël Matip, Gaëtan Bong and Maxim Choupo-Moting to represent Cameroon as they are players who could pay dividends in the future. Besides that he has been a total failure since the victory of Morocco that brought Cameroon to South Africa.

Cameroon finally debuted in the World Cup today and the world will wish they had not. If there is a word to describe Cameroon’s performance it would be putrid. The line up was all wrong, the performance of the players was luckluster particularly in the dreadful first half. They faced an opponent who at the end of the day provided almost no attacking threat. Here are my thoughts on the match:

-As soon as I saw Emana on the bench I knew the game was lost. I said in the preview they would have no chance of scoring goals if Emana didn’t start. That is exactly what happened. In the first half the attack was aimless consisting mostly of long balls that never came close to connecting. Emana when he came on wasn’t great but Cameroon looked more dangerous.

-Paul Le Guen could not have got the starting line up any more wrong then he did. The back four was fine for the most part and Hamidou in goal did not matter as Japan mounted almost no attack. Cameroon’s midfield is filled with redundant players and those selected offer nothing going forward. Eyong Enoh, Jean Makoun and Joël Matip were all waste of spaces. Matip and Enoh in particular gave the ball away repeatedly when under little pressure. The movement off the ball from the midfield was non-existent until the second half when Enoh and Makoun started doing a little more moving around. Le Guen fielded a midfield that never had any chance connecting with the strikers. That is why Emana had to start and why Geremi maybe should have as well.

-Le Guen totally wasted Samuel Eto’o. Eto’o is a striker, not a right winger. I know he spent most of the season in that position for Inter but he did not exactly have a great domestic season, arguably his worst in years. With a midfield unable to get him the ball Eto’o was on the periphery of the match the entire time. He had one dangerous moment in the second half which should have resulted in a goal but otherwise was starved of service and easily marked out of the game by Japan. He should have been in the center of the pitch in a two striker formation.

-Le Guen waited entirely too long to change things. Bringing out the same 11 players for the second half who had just wandered around the pitch aimlessly for 45 minutes was mind blowing. How Le Guen thought keeping things the same could provide results I will never know. It nearly did due to a solitary moment of Eto’o magic but down a goal with your World Cup virtually on the line already and fielding the same 11 players cannot be excused.

-I don’t know what Le Guen thought was going to happen in that first half but the team seemed to have no idea what to do. Whatever the game plan was it failed miserably.

-Starting Alexandre Song on the bench was irrelevant. I can’t criticise Le Guen for Song not playing as he would not have helped matters any.

-Stéphane Mbia had a very good match sans for one moment. Unfortunately for Mbia that one moment resulted in Cameroon’s defeat. Mbia left the man he was supposed to be marking to attempt to head a cross clear of danger, he missed that header and the ball went right to the man he was supposed to be marking: Keisuke Honda. Honda easily converted the chance as any good striker would. Mbia was one of the few players looking to make something happen in the first half but his decision to leave Honda has probably ended Cameroon’s World Cup.

-Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had a miserable afternoon. His touch let him down repeatedly, he took one of the worst corner kicks you will ever see and he squandered Cameroon’s best chance of the match. When you are teed up, unmarked for a shot on goal with the keeper stranded you simply have to put the ball in the back of the net. Choupo-Moting failed to deliver in a big way following Eto’o somehow beating three Japanese defenders and squaring the ball to Choupo-Moting. That has to end in a goal and the young striker was not up to it.

-Achille Webó failed to deliver in a big game once again. Ever since his heroics in qualifying against Côte d’Ivoire back in 2005 he has failed to come up big when Cameroon needed him. That held true today though it can’t all be attributed to him.

-Mbia’s pulverizer of a shot from distance deserved to find the back of the net. That was by far the best strike from distance we have seen in this World Cup and for that reason deserved to result in a goal, not that Cameroon deserved the goal.

-Japan were a poor side today. They never looked like scoring until they took advantage of their one great chance following a defensive error and never looked like a scoring again afterwards. They did defend well but it is hard to know how much of that was actually good defending compared to inept offense. I’d say it was probably 50% good defending and 50% inept offense. Despite how bad they may have looked, you don’t get bonus points for winning pretty. They found a way to win and deserve credit for that. It is also their first ever World Cup win in a match not taking place in Japan. Kudos to them for that but I expect they will still find it difficult to get out of the group.

-I think this was probably the worst officiated match of the tournament so far. The referee blew his whistle way too many times on minimal contact, even managing to show Nicolas Nkoulou a yellow card for a foul which did not occur. He did not cost either team but was too eager to blow his whistle, at least he kept his cards in his pocket for the most part with only two bookings I believe, one for which side, though I think neither booking was correct.

-The World Cup so far has been dreadful and this match did absolutely nothing to change that. I don’t know if it is the ball which seems impossible to get a decent strike on so far or managers being afraid of losing. Whatever the case this is shaping up to be an abysmal tournament. I really hope that changes.

-I said in my preview that I thought if Cameroon did not win this game then their World Cup was over. After losing today I can confirm that Cameroon will be going out of the group stages for the 4th consecutive World Cup. As poor as Denmark and the Netherlands looked this morning, Cameroon looked even worse. The only hope I can see is by defeating Denmark and then Denmark beating Japan with the Netherlands winning all their games. That would leave the other three all on 3 points with tiebreakers of goal differential and goals scored. That to me looks like the only avenue.

I can only hope the Indomitable Lions will respond in a big way on Saturday against Denmark but I don’t see that happening especially with Paul Le Guen in charge of selecting the team. At this point I think I would be a better man for the job.

Fans of Cameroon see this match as one that the Lions should win and I would argue that it is a near must win. With Japan on paper looking like the weakest of Cameroon’s opponents, dropping points tomorrow could well prove fatal. Japan are a side like Cameroon coming into the World Cup in less than spectacular form. Japan lost all three friendlies they contested in the final weeks leading to the World Cup. They fell 2-0 to rivals South Korea, 2-1 to England and 2-0 to Côte d’Ivoire. It should be noted that they led England for most of that match and both English goals came as a result of Japanese own goals. Still Japan have not tasted victory since March as they also lost their friendly in April at home in Osaka 3-0 to Serbia.

Since the majority of the Japanese squad play domestically I am not familiar with many of their players. I can tell you that Shunsuke Nakamura who should reach 100 caps during the tournament is known to be a dead ball specialist and has enjoyed a great career. He will be looking for one last shot at greatness in the World Cup. Young Keisuke Honda figures to be a pivotal figure for the Japanese. Honda is coming off a very impressive season for CSKA Moscow in Russia and helped his club reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Japan will be looking to Honda to put the ball in the back of the net. The only other player I am particularly familiar with is Takayuki Morimoto of Italian side Catania. Like Honda he is a promising young player and figures to be one of the figures Japan will build around in the future. But his lack of caps for Japan indicate that he is not yet a key player and will not be expected to start. It is an experienced Japanes side as 5 of the 23 players in the squad have over 80 caps and many of them have experienced the World Cup before. For more and better information on the Japanese I would strongly urge you to check out the Japan blog on this site.

For Cameroon the strategy going into the match is likely to be simple. The Indomitable Lions will look to dominate the game in the midfield where they possess a number of strong physical ball winners, although Alexandre Song is looking at starting from the bench as Paul Le Guen is worried he does not have the speed to deal with the Japanese attack. Cameroon will be hoping that their superior size and physicality will eventually wear down the small and fast Japanese team. I would expect a lot of strong challenges from the Cameroon midfield and defense as a warning to Japan. Such a strategy could backfire though as one bad challenge could see Cameroon down a man. Le Guen and the coaching staff would do well to recognize the straight red card shown to Australia’s Tim Cahill as a warning to his players of what kind of tackles not to make.

If Cameroon can win the midfield and possession battle then I would expect to see most of their attacks coming from the flanks, particularly the left wing where left back Benoît Assou Ekotto has been in spectacular form delivering three assists via crosses during Cameroon’s recent friendlies. Cameroon will hope that strikers Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Achille Webó can deliver in the air. Webó has been lethal with his head in recent games. Though it is a doubt both will start. Out of favor striker Mohammadou Idrissou could be set for a substitute appearance as his size would likely pose the Japanese defense some problems on crosses and set pieces. Obviously Cameroon will be looking for Samuel Eto’o to lead the attack but he is likely to need the help of Achille Emana who should be slightly withdrawn behind the two strikers though he could play on either wing. Japan’s manager has already stated that they will attempt to mark Eto’o with multiple players so it could prove a frustrating evening for Samuel. He will have to work long and hard for the cause, but Eto’o never quits running on offense or on defense.

I expect a cautious start from Cameroon tomorrow, really every team so far in the World Cup with some exceptions like Mexico, Argentina and Germany have started very cautiously. And with the defense still suspect I would believe Le Guen will not want to attack too eagerly at the start. Hopefully though Le Guen will let the lions loose eventually, especially if they are to fall behind or if they are still looking for the lead as three points in the opener will be very valuable.

Of course as I detailed yesterday Le Guen announced two major changes to the squad for the Japan match with Carlos Kameni out as the number 1 keeper, a spot he has occupied for the last 7 years. In is veteran keeper Souleymanou Hamidou, the 36 year old is getting a chance even he probably did not dream of getting coming into this World Cup. I hope for his sake and for Cameroon’s sake that he plays more confidently than he did in the friendly against Serbia. Also Alexandre Song will almost certainly be on the bench from the start. These two changes makes it slightly harder to predict the starting line up as with Song dropped it could move Mbia out of defense and into the midfield or perhaps Landry Nguémo or Joël Matip who was used sparingly in the friendlies will move into midfield.

My complete guess for the starting line up really depends on where Mbia is deployed. If he is in the midfield then Bassong will partner Nkoulou with either Mandjeck or Geremi at right back. Geremi’s strong showing against Serbia and his experience could see him get the nod but that would not fit with the rest of Le Guen’s logic. If Alexandre Song is on the bench due to concerns about his ability to deal with Japan’s speed then the same would hold true of Geremi. Therefore, here is my guess:

Hamidou-Mandjeck, Bassong, Nkoulou, Assou Ekotto-Makoun, Mbia, Enoh-Emana-Eto’o, Choupo-Moting

Camfoot believes that Mbia will be in defense with Matip in midfield alongside Enoh and Makoun. They also think Webó will start over Emana. If Emana starts on the bench I may lose my mind as a warning to all of you. If Emana is on the bench then Cameroon have no one capable of creating for the forwards from the center of the pitch. This will isolate Eto’o and allow Japan to easily mark him out of the game. With Emana on the bench then Cameroon will be forced to play a long ball offense that will not be fun for the eyes and is likely to be very difficult to successfully create goals especially with most of the teams in the World Cup so far struggling mightily with their aerial passes. Simply put I don’t think Cameroon can win this game if Emana is on the bench. We have seen before how pitiful the Cameroon attack can be without him for we have also seen how the attack struggles if either Eto’o or Emana are on the pitch but not playing effectively. I have already started believing that Le Guen has lost his mind and is out of his depth, that belief will only be confirmed should Cameroon start the match without Emana on the pitch.

At the end of the day I will be happy as long as Cameroon get the three points. I may not be content with the performance but I will be happy. I will refrain from a prediction because I am scared of what may happen tomorrow. I think this Cameroon team could go far if they play to their potential but it is hard to play your full potential when your best squad will not be on the field, which it will not be for Cameroon, we know that much already. Le Guen’s selection choices may work out in the end but Kameni is the best keeper they have and Song is a better holding midfielder than everyone except possibly Mbia. Whoever the 11 hopefully they play as a team and can find a way to win, emulating the formula used by the Black Stars of Ghana who always play well regardless of who takes the pitch.

Meanwhile Hamidou who has been the long time back up struggled mightily himself in the friendly against Serbia. He was directly responsible for one of the goals. He also flapped at numerous crosses and in the first half did not inspire any confidence in his defense. He did improve in the second half of the friendly but he quite simply is not a keeper of the class of Kameni. Frankly if you are going to drop Kameni it should be for Assembé in my opinion.

The other big shock from his press conference is the bombshell that Alexandre Song is not likely to make his World Cup debut. Le Guen explained, “Alexandre Song may not start the first match against Japan. This does not mean there is anything bad about him. He is a great player. It’s just that I want to start the tournament with the most competitive team.” This is a truly baffling statement. Song has established himself as one of the best holding midfielders in the world and has acquitted himself well in Cameroon’s friendlies. Now is most likely not the time to make two drastic changes to the squad. And these if they happen are drastic changes.

These changes smack of an air of desperation on Le Guen’s part. Le Guen has talked about his optimism in the team and saying they would be at their best when the tournament starts. I don’t think these are the moves an optimistic manager would make just days before his team play their first World Cup match. I have to say I vehemently disagree with these decisions if in fact they take place. The dropping of Kameni seems certain and I can’t see why he would hint at Alex Song being on the bench if there was any chance of him starting.

With these changes in mind it throws the starting line up into a bit of disarray. The conventional wisdom was the Stéphane Mbia would be starting in defense but with Alex Song starting on the bench it makes me think that Mbia must be moving into the holding midfield role with Bassong at center back and Georges Mandjeck likely at right back.

Whatever the case these are bold moves, astonishing really. Will they backfire? I certainly hope not but my confidence in Le Guen which had been steadily eroding since the Nations Cup has reached an all time low.

-One of Cameroon’s teenagers and Bundesliga sensation with Schalke Joél Matip is lookking forward to playing in his first World Cup as well as playing on African soil. “Playing on our continent, it is a special feeling, I think. There are many African supporters at the stadium.” In the months preceding the start of the tournament there was a lot of talk about the home soil advantage for the African teams and how it would aid them at this World Cup. I never really bought that argument as most of the sides are just as close if not closer to the Southern European nations then they are to South Africa. There is also the risk of Matip and all of the other players putting undue pressure on themselves because this World Cup is taking place in Africa. It is something to look out for, will the moment overcome some of the players who never dared dream that they would get to play a World Cup on their home continent.

-After being dropped from the Cameroon squad for the 2010 African Cup of Nations there was a lot of speculation that Sébastien Bassong and Le Guen had had a falling out. Bassong for his part despite being dropped by his National Team manager never gave up his dreams of appearing in a first World Cup. Bassong would hardly have been the first player to turn against his manager and refuse to take any further part in the Cameroon setup. But Bassong was reassured by Le Guen despite being dropped and acted the consummate professional himself, “I put it behind me. And since then I have always done absolutely everything I could to be here.” This is the kind of attitude you wish every player could have. I’m sure Bassong was hurt about not being selected for Angola but he did not let it affect his mentality for the National Team or his manager. Bassong may be a new Cameroonian international but you cannot question his commitment to the Indomitable Lions with this kind of attitude.

-I have not been the only one to question Paul Le Guen on his selection choices for Cameroon’s friendlies but here is further justification from Le Guen himself, “They have all had long seasons and they are tired. My job is to get them in good shape for the Japan game, and not before.” Le Guen is referencing his decision to rest players like Eto’o, Alexandre Song, Achille Emana and Kameni for some of the friendlies. His justification makes sense and he is absolutely right about needing the players fit and healthy for the Japan game and not burning them out prior. There is still also the need to have a starting 11 that has played together recently and comfortable with each other. It is a delicate balance. Time will tell if Le Guen’s approach pays off.

-One of the dilemmas facing Le Guen is where to play Stéphane Mbia. We all know that Mbia is going to start and play a significant role. He is a beast of a player. Mbia traditionally plays as a defensive midfielder but in the run of the French Ligue Un season, Mbia put in a series of stellar performances at center back for Marseille as they won their first League title in nearly two decades. Mbia has in the past stated his apprehension about playing in the back line instead of his preferred midfield. Now though Mbia is primarily concerned about playing where he can best help his country, “I don’t mind where I play, I just want to be here to help my team.” Like Bassong, Mbia has adopted a winning attitude. We can pretty much be certain that he will be playing as a defender, either at center back or at the troublesome right back position for Cameroon.

-Samuel Eto’o continues to believe in Cameroon’s chances at achieving something special in South Africa, “This generation of players is too great for us to not aim high. When I look at the other teams, I don’t envy anyone. My job is to convince my teammates that this is possible, that it is not just one of Samuel’s daydreams.” There are a lot of people who think Eto’o’s prima donna attitude is not fit to captain a National Team. I would however say that people follow proven winners even if they are jerks. Michael Jordan was not exactly considered the best teammate. He had a reputation for being extremely hard on his teammates as Jordan expected excellence at all times and was consumed with winning. Whatever, his teammates thought of Jordan personally it did not affect them on the court because they knew Jordan would do whatever it took to win. Eto’o’s teammates should have the same view. Eto’o is a winner of the highest caliber. If Eto’o is telling his compatriots that they can achieve something special in South Africa it should only make them work harder and make it a reality, not one of Samuel’s daydreams.

Now that the Lions have arrived in South Africa, Le Guen is ready for his squad to get settled in and begin the final stage of preparations. With so many of the World Cup teams facing injury worries to star players and squad players alike Le Guen is delighted to be able to have a full squad, “There’s no problems, all the players are available and I have no one injured,” he said. “I can count on the full 23, and that’s what I wanted.” With no injuries of any kind to speak of yet there will be no built-in excuses for the Indomitable Lions if they fail to perform.

Prior to departing Yaoundé, Le Guen was grilled by Cameroonian journalists about his inability to play a consistent group of players with each other. A legitimate critique in my estimation. Naturally Le Guen defended himself against the charges by stating that the Indomitable Lions will come good, “It was not all about results of the matches. As an experienced professional, I can tell you that the final team will do a lot at the World Cup.” Le Guen’s optimism will mean nothing come Monday when the teams take the pitch. Hopefully the faith that he has in the players has instilled belief in the whole squad that they can compete with and defeat every team at this tournament.

-As you may have seen on the main page of this site Cameroon enter the World Cup with the fourth youngest squad at an average age of 25.2 years. Only the Ghanaians, North Koreans and Germans have a younger squad.

-Cameroon are the only nation who have brought two teenagers to the World Cup, being Vincent Aboubakar and Joël Matip. In all there are a mere 7 teenagers at the World Cup this year. Contrast that to 2002 when Cameroon alone brought 6 teenagers to Japan/South Korea.

-While Cameroon have one of the youngest squad they also enter the World Cup with the most experienced international campaigner in terms of caps. That of course being Rigobert Song and is 136 appearances in the Cameroon shirt. Song is making his 4th World Cup appearance (94, 98, 02).

-Fifa have granted an amnesty to African players who were sent off in the Africa Cup of Nations back in January. A Fifa spokesman explained the decision with the fair logic that because CAF was the only federation to stage competitive games since the end of qualifying it would not be fair to punish those players. This amnesty means that Cameroon’s Aurélien Chedjou is not facing a suspension at the start of the World Cup as a result of his red card in Cameroon’s quarterfinal defeat to Egypt. The other players benefitting from this amnesty are Côte d’Ivoire’s Emmanuel Eboue and Algeria’s Faouzi Chaouchi and Nadir Belhadj.

Meanwhile in a press conference with the Cameroonian media on Monday Paul Le Guen told of his belief in the squad he has assembled. He believes it is an efficient squad of fully fit players capable of going to the Quarterfinals or beyond. His optimism his to be expected, hopefully the squad can back it up on the field. He is also sure that Cameroon captain and legend Samuel Eto’o will deliver the goods in South Africa. Simply put Cameroon will not go very far if Eto’o is not in good form. He is in of the most feared strikers in club football, now he needs to become one of the most feared strikers in international football. He has a great scoring record for his country but it is time to apply that scoring record to the World Cup. He will need help of course, primarily from Achille Emana, who on his day is a force of nature. Emana though has a habit of drifting out of games. That cannot happen in South Africa. If either Emana or Eto’o are off the pace in a game then Cameroon usually struggle mightily.

For weeks now I have been speculating on who would be the second striker along with Eto’o in South Africa and after the recent friendlies I thought it would be Achille Webó. Le Guen on Monday indicated though it might not be, “I will be counting on Eto’o and Choupo-Moting to make a good match and score goals because they are very intelligent players.” That quote sure seems to indicate that Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who has only been capped twice and played a mere 34 minutes with Eto’o will get the first opportunity. If true it shows the belief Le Guen must have in the newly capped international. It is a move that I personally would love to see. Webó has been great in the friendlies and will surely be the first striker off the bench but I think Choupo-Moting might prove to be a better partner for Eto’o and more of a handful for opposing defences. It will be most interesting to see if it is indeed Choupo-Moting against Japan. Le Guen seems to change his mind often so who knows.

It also seems that Samuel Eto’o has fulfilled a promise he made to his colleagues by giving out 30 personalized watches to his teammates and the Cameroon staff before the Serbia friendly. Eto’o had promised to buy his teammates and staff the watches on the condition that Cameroon qualified for the World Cup. The watches reportedly cost Eto’o the hefty sum of 900,000 pounds.

Speaking of Samuel Eto’o, he hopes that this World Cup can help change attitudes in regards to racism. Eto’o has famously been the victim of racist chances in Spain and he also says he suffered lot in Italy for Inter this season due to racism. Eto’o told the British paper The Guardian, “It has never been easy and until the end of my career it won’t be easy. But maybe this World Cup, being the first in Africa, can change attitudes.”

Finally, in Group E related news the Netherlands learned today that star winger Arjen Robben will miss the first match of the World Cup against Denmark for certain. His participation in general is still up in the air. Let us hope that Robben can play a part for the Netherlands in the World Cup as no player deserves to miss out on a World Cup due to injury.