World Cup 2010: Japan v Cameroon – Group E

International Football Tips

 

World Cup 2010
Japan (45th) v Cameroon (19th) – Group E
Monday 14th June 2010 – 1500hrs
The other opening match in Group E sees an interesting encounter between Japan and Cameroon at Bloemfontein.
Japan, the lowest-ranked team (FIFA rankings) in Group E, qualified relatively easily in a group that also included Australia, losing only two matches in the process (to Bahrain & Australia). However, they have suffered four straight defeats in the four matches leading up to the finals; losses to Serbia (0-3), South Korea (0-2), England (1-2) & Ivory Coast (0-2) will do little for their confidence, although you wouldn’t know it judging by manager Takeshi Okada’s optimistic ambitions of a semi-final spot.
Looking at their squad then; in goal should be first-choice keeper Seigo Narazaki who kept a clean sheet on his debut against Cameroon in 2003. Defender Yasuyuki  Konno has been ruled out through injury. Other players to watch out for are Keisuke Honda, Junichi Inamoto (formerly of Arsenal, Fulham, West Brom & Cardiff), Yasuhito Endo who is the creative force in the midfield along with of course Shunsuke Nakamura (formerly of Celtic).
I’m a little worried about Japan’s options in attack though, while they may depend a little too heavily on the aforementioned midfielders.
Cameroon have made more World Cup finals appearances than any other African nation, but have failed to since live up to the impact they made in the 1990 tournament .
This has again been evident in their warm-up matches leading up to South Africa; draws against Slovakia and Georgia, along with losses to Portugal and Serbia have done little to instill further confidence, but manager Paul Le Guen insists they are in good shape.
With players like deadly striker Samuel Eto’o, Arsenal’s Alex Song , Tottenham’s Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Webo (striker), they are more than capable of holding their own in this group and indeed, join Holland to the knock-out stages.
I think it will be a close game, and much depends on striker Eto’o and his performance, but I think the Cameroon’s just have the edge over their Asian counterparts.
Pick: Cameroon @ a juicy 2.12 with Pinnacle Sports