World Cup 2104: Cameroon Drawn Alongside Brazil

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Less than a fortnight after ousting Tunisia, Cameroon found out that it would feature in a match against the hosts of next year’s World Cup Brazil, in a repeat of the confrontation between the two sides that saw Cameroon demolished in 1994 although we subsequently beat Brazil at both the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000 and at the Confederations Cup in 2003.

Samuel Eto'o

If some believe we will probably lose the game against Brazil, most Cameroonians are quietly confident in their ability to cause an upset. Such optimism is not as far-fetched as it might seem at first sight. Most football pundits who are old enough can still remember how the Cameroon of Roger Milla and Omam Biyick tumbled the holders Argentina in 1990 when Diego Maradona was at the pak of his powers. If the current Indomitable Lions are undeniably a far cry from that mythical squad, the belief is strong that what had been done before can be achieved again and the Brazilians would be ill-advised to count their chickens before they are hatched.

Even if Brazil were to prove to hard a nut for Cameroon to crack, the Indomitable Lions must fancy their chances against the other two sides. While Mexico play a flamboyant game, they are often inconsistent and seem to lack the tough mentality of the big European sides that often cause Cameroon so much trouble. A positive result against them is therefore not improbable.

Croatia finished third in 1998 but have hardly achieved anything worthy of note ever since. Although the game against them will certainly be no walk in the park, Cameroon must believe it has a chance against this side that never even qualified for the previous edition of the World Cup in South Africa and even this time had to qualify through a second place playoff.