Cameroon-Japan Preview
Twenty years ago, Cameroon became the first African team to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The Indomitable Lions have struggled to match that success since and the looming shadow has become frustrating for Samuel Eto'o.
The star forward looks to silence his critics when Cameroon meets Japan on Monday in Bloemfontein.
Cameroon was the surprise of the 1990 World Cup, beating reigning champion Argentina before falling to England in overtime of the quarterfinals. That was the team's best finish at the World Cup, and it was eliminated in the opening round of its last three appearances while not qualifying in 2006.
Eto'o is Cameroon's all-time leader with 44 goals in 96 games. He's been even better at the club level, scoring 52 times over the last two seasons with Barcelona and Inter as both clubs won the Champions League, domestic league and cup.
Roger Milla, the star of the '90 team, recently criticized Eto'o for not being able to replicate his club success for Cameroon.
"It's always just before the (major) tournaments that the old geezers wake up," said Eto'o, who threatened to withdraw from the World Cup and was ejected from a 3-1 loss to Portugal on June 1. "What's Milla done? He hasn't won the World Cup, they played in the quarterfinals."
Eto'o may be looking to prove he can lead Cameroon deep into this tournament, and coach Paul Le Guen is confident in him.
"He is my captain, a great player, one of the best players in the world and he wants to do well," Le Guen said.
Cameroon is ranked 19th by FIFA and drawing inspiration from playing the World Cup in Africa.
"Playing on our continent, it is a special feeling, I think," midfielder Joel Matip said. "We want to represent the country and show Africa has very good football teams."
Japan, making a fourth World Cup appearance, is familiar with success at home. The team had its best finish in 2002 as co-host, losing to Turkey in the round of 16 before finishing at the bottom of its group four years ago.
The Samurai Blue, ranked 45th, stumble into this tournament having been outscored 9-1 during a four-game losing streak.
"This is a team that will never give up," coach Takeshi Okada said.
With offense a major problem for Japan, Okada may need production from midfielders Shunsuke Nakamura and Keisuke Honda, the latter of which will make his World Cup debut.
Nakamura leads the team with 24 goals in 97 games, three of which came during qualifying, while Honda has scored four times in 15 appearances for Japan. Honda is considered a rising star with CSKA Moscow.
"Honda has changed his style since going to Moscow," Okada said. "He has become more confident around the net and we have high expectations for him to score goals."
Japan took the most recent meeting with Cameroon 2-0 in a friendly in August 2007.
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