Cameroon Disgrace Themselves, Lose 1-0 to Japan

June 14th, 2010 | by: shane |

South Africa Soccer WCup Japan Cameroon

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.

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-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.

Cameroon World Cup Team Blog RSS Feed

http://japan.worldcupblog.org/ Aidan

My review from Japan’s point of view…
http://japan.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/japan-1-cameroon-0-hands-up-if-you-honestly-thought-wed-win.html
http://japan.worldcupblog.org/ Aidan

As you can tell from my review, I was quite surprised that Japan won this one, particularly given the poor form coming into this.
But the win was certainly helped by Cameroon’s poor performance. Surely Cameroon have to play Eto’o through the middle and build everything else around that – if they make this change (which took Le Guen forever to do today) then they could beat Denmark and get back into it. That is an “if” though…
Edmund

Wow, i couldn’t agree more with this review — what a dreadful formation by Le Guen 4-3-3 with two holding midfieders against Japan?
Jaksi

I agree with all of your words.

However I am Hungarian, I support the Indomitable Lions for 20 years. The first time I have seen this team was the match against Argentina in 1990, when I was 11. In the last 20 years, I haven’t seen as disappointed Cameroonian faces in the pitch as today.

This static 4-3-3 is not the right formation in the 21th century. 3 defensive midfield player in the starting 11… no chance to attack. No changes between positions, only this static playing… I am disappointed.

There are so many good players on the bench, but I think, this is the time to say Le Guen good bye. No one could select a team with less chance to win against Japan than he did.

I think, this is the time to find a really big coach for at least a 4-years-project or to give the chance for a domestic trainer, for example Akono who won the olimpic games in 2000 or somebody else. As a Hungarian, I know well the problem of the well paid foreign coaches without previous international successes who deal with the football association, and don’t know the word ‘responsibility’, just the word ‘challenge’ and ‘good deal with nothing to loose’. These are gamblers.
http://angola.worldcupblog.org/ Kiko

Cameroon were disappointing. Playing Eto’o on the right seemed like a waste of talent and they just never pulled a string of passes together, resorting instead to long balls aimed at no-one. Very disappointing
Van Basten

Well said Shane!I agree on all points. Cameroun has to beat Denmark. Simple as that! A loss or a tie would be the end. Very disappointing, since I was rooting for them to come out 2nd in the group. Where has the offense that scored against Serbia in the friendlies gone to?
Denmark vs Cameroun = Win or Go Home! The odds are definitely not in their favor, and they will surely need a miracle.
felice

cameroon’s performance no surprise at all i think. i saw every game the last half yr and that is what u had to expect.
felice

good article and analysis btw
Jessica Ade

Soccer is the one thing that makes Cameroonians happy. Today’s performance by the Lions was heartbreaking. Who is this coach? I think Roger Miller can do a better job. I agree that this coach be dumped. Cameroonians and their supporters have spent sleepless nights anticipating this game. I guess this is the kind of coach who thinks he is all that and doesn’t listen to anybody else. We shouldn’t let him do this to us. Miller should be given a chance to coach Cameroon. This so what called coach is holding the top players on the bench. We must speak out before its too late. If not we may as well just forget about Cameroon.
Aben

Miller a chance, I agree. Perhaps he can do for Cameroon what Maradona is doing for Argentina. If I recall, he defeated Maradona in 1990.
http://www.malawi.worldcupblog.org sscouser

On June 3, 2010 Shane wrote:

“Cameroon can win the World Cup.” So says Cameroon captain and all time goal scorer Samuel Eto’o. While I don’t think Cameroon can win the World Cup, I would not want to hear any of the players say that. Why bother showing up if you don’t have the ultimate ambition of winning the Cup?

Eto’o also believes Japan is the most dangerous team in the group because “Nobody knows what they are really capable of.” While dangerous may not be the most apt word, Eto’o is spot on with his observation. Of the four teams in the group Japan are the least well known as the majority of their squad plays domestically in the Japanese league. Only 4 of the Japanese players ply their trade in Europe. Japan definitely have more of the unknown feel and are the side most likely to be overlooked. If Cameroon are foolish enough to overlook Japan in the opener it may well prove fatal. Hopefully the rest of the squad is aware of the dangers posed by the Japanese like Eto’o is.
sir

domestic coach and players
sir

Im in cameroon and we are all sick at home FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.. i watch domestic first division football and we have players back home that can fight or carry the flags better than some of these socall professionals.Look at Egyptian national team, about 90% OF thier players and coaches are domestic . They defeated and disqualified SOCCER GIANT Cameroon 4 times in the last 8years or so[2006 world cup and 2 african nations cup].I lived in Europe and have seen this over and over with Africans countries.The concept is that the best coaches and players must come from Europe.Must of these coaches from Europe are former players and some hurrible in thier playing days. We have alot of renown former players ALL OVER AFRICA. Why not give them the try?Milla said two weeks ago that there was chaos in the national team and was yelled at. What he saw was, inside politics in cameroon football.That some of us will never know why he came out pointing out dilema on tv france24.The coach has no voice, players like Eto’o, fecafoot and the minister of sports have say on naming the national team squad.Remember ,It was presidential degree that had Milla in the 1990 worldcup, we all forget that.I mean The president of cameroon personally wanted to see him play.Thank God it turn out good. UNTIL THE MINISTER OF SPORTS AND FECAFOOT CAME UP WITH AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW ABOUT THE PROCESS THESE PROFESSIONAL PLAYERS AND COACHES ARE SELECTED. WE WILL AS A PEOPLE OF A SOCCER NATION, WILL KEEP BLAMING OUR PLAYERS AND EUROPEANS.MERITS ONLY HOME OR ABROAD
In 1982 and 1990 world cup respectively, alot of home base players played even better than professional players.Cameroon has one of the best leagues in Africa. we have strickers and midfield players at home. Mbouh Mbouh Emile ,Louis-Paul Mfédé, and alot more.Former Cameroon national team coaches like Jean Vincent [1982]Valeri Kuzmyich Nepomniachi [1990]emphasised the use of home players base on talents and merits ONLY.The result was good.NOW IS ALL ABOUT ‘CHOP I CHOP’. some players handed gifts to football federation officials ,ministers and lobby atimes for the coaches.im sick. the problem in from the top.Discpline is also another major factor. we can all learn from Ghana and Eygpt.
nick

i couldn’t agree less. The moment I saw Eto’o playing to the right, I knew Cameroon wasn’T going to score. I believe this is the end of the road for the domitable lions of Cameroon. There is no chance of qzualifying from this group.
Rostand

It is so sad. I still can’t get over it, another lineup could have make a big difference. At the press conference the only remarks from Le Guen is ‘j’assume’ for ‘I take responsibility.’ What is the hegg is that? I heard this morning from an insider he is planning to have the same lineup against Denmark. This is crazy. He still don’t get it. We should write to Ministry of Sport and have this guy be removed immediately. Milla can do a far better job.
Tanyi

I am beginning to wonder if the Lions have not become sheep. To be beaten by an reluctant attacking Japanese side proves how the tamed the Lions have become. They played like it was a training match as they made no attempts of attacking nor shooting either on or off target. With this kind of performance, the Lions are telling us they are no yet ready the World Cup in South Africa. Unless otherwise as they say impossible ne pas Camerounais, then we expect a miracle from the Lions. Allez les Lion.