Both teams lost their respective opening matches in vastly different circumstances and will need all three here to have a fighting chance of reaching the Round of 16. View our Croatia vs Cameroon World Cup preview, tips odds and predicted teams.
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The match will be played at the Arena da Amazonia, venue of Italy’s 2-1 win over England and the elements will be just as treacherous. The early forecast for Wednesday projects a temperature of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). Despite the heat, the referee did not call official cooling breaks in the Italy- England game and Italy coach Cesare Prandelli was miffed by this decision. FIFA, however, maintains that the temperature must exceed 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) for cooling breaks to be considered.
Cameroon lost their opening match to Mexico and were outclassed by the Mexicans for much of the game. The Africans are physically imposing and possess excellent fitness but they were outwitted by the more nimble Mexicans led by Giovanni Dos Santos, who managed to score two goals that were incorrectly ruled out for offside. After the match, Cameroon coach Volker Finke spoke about fixing what went wrong.
‘We will analyze this together because the match against Croatia is very important if we want to stay alive.’ Finke said, aware that losing here will mean an early exit for the Indomitable Lions.
Croatia, meanwhile, lost their first match 3-1 to the host nation Brazil in controversial circumstances. With the scores still at 1-1, Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded a soft penalty for a supposed foul on Brazil striker Fred. Neymar put the penalty away and Oscar put cherry on the score line with another goal in the dying moments of the match. Croatia coach called it a ‘shameful’ decision, but he was eager to move on to the game against Cameroon.
‘What we showed on the (field) was great,’ Kovac said. ‘What I can see in players’ eyes is their desire to make up for what we have lost in the opener.’
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TEAM NEWS
Kovac is expected to persist with the starting lineup he put out against Brazil, provided Luka Modric is passed fit to play. The Real Madrid midfielder should be available after scans showed no sign of ligament damage and will be crucial to the Europeans’ chances of overcoming Cameroon. Ivica Olic was excellent last time out and should continue his partnership with Nikica Jelavic up front.
Volke Finke’s key player Samuel Eto’o is also an injury doubt as the Chelsea striker has missed two days of training. The team captain is Cameroon’s most dangerous player and Finke would hope he is available to start against Croatia.
Possible Line ups
Cameroon (4-3-3): Itandje; Assou Ekotto, Nkoulou, Mbia, Bedimo; Song, Makoun, Enoh; Moukandjo, Choupo Moting, Eto’o
Croatia (4-4-2): Pletikosa; Srna, Corluka, Lovren, Vrsaljko; Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, Kovacic; Olic, Jelavic
PREDICTION
Cameroon were poor and did not inspire any kind of confidence against Mexico and the 1-0 score line flattered the Africans. Croatia, on the other hand, held their own against Brazil and will be expecting to sweep their opponents aside on Wednesday.
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