No-one is giving Cameroon much of a chance as they head to the Brazilian National Stadium later today to take on the tournament hosts, Brazil. Cameroon don’t actually look like they’ve got a Brazil-beating team in their dressing room, however it is the hosts who arrive at the National Stadium with the more criticism of the two, perhaps with tactics being the focal point of that criticism. In Brazilian newspapers, the spectacle that was the 0-0 draw with Mexico was touted as a “horror show” with subheadings of “worst start ever” and “couldn’t be a worse beginning to a World Cup”. All this amidst anti-World Cup campaigns and protests designed to bring attention to the world’s media that Brazil are not spending the income generated from hosting the tournament where they should.
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However, with all that hyperbole aside, attention is drawn immediately to the fact that Brazil have still managed to get four points from two games, a return that most teams would be more than satisfied with (see England and Spain for a measure of true disappointment). The frightening part of all this speculation is that Brazil managed four points without actually finding that rhythm, that Samba style that the world has come to respect them for. Julio Cesar has admitted that most teams these days coming up against the Selecao set themselves up to stifle and starve them, to prevent penetration by camping 10 men behind the ball and refusing to budge.
Cesar added to this by saying “This is definitely a tough group, but we don’t mind because we prefer to begin by having to focus harder, and face these difficulties from the start. That’s very important in short term competitions like this one.” Brazil are expected to win every time they play, and there would indeed be tremors throughout the football world if the unthinkable happened and they failed to qualify. However that is highly unlikely, with 1966 being the last time that happened. A draw would actually suffice this evening to see them through to play either Chile or the Netherlands, and even if they somehow lost tonight against a vastly inferior Cameroonian team, they could still progress as long as Mexico beat Croatia in the group’s other game.
Cameroon have had a torrid tournament, but haven’t helped their own case either, when one takes into consideration the fact that there were rows over player bonuses, nasty tackling and snide tactics, with one teammate actually headbutting another, prompting an investigation by the Cameroon’s football association. Coach Volker Finke of Cameroon has condemned his team’s performance in this World Cup, both on and off the pitch, saying “It’s unacceptable to see that kind of thing. There have been some situations where we have lacked concentration and we also lacked a finishing touch against Croatia, but we can do better against Brazil.”
Brazil are definitely favourites this evening with a stellar lineup, however Cameroon have mustered goals and wins against them in the past with a Samuel Eto’o goal enough to beat them in the 2003 Confederations Cup.
