Focus On... CAMEROON!

CAMEROON

Manager: Volker Finke
Previous Best: Quarter Final (1990)

Likely Line-up (4-3-3)

Pos	Name	Age	Caps	Club
GK	Itandje	31	9	Konyaspor (TUR)
RB	Matip	22	22	Schalke 04 (GER)
CB	N'Koulou	24	47	Marseille (FRA)
CB	Chedjou	28	30 (1)	Galatasary (TUR)
LB	Bedimo	29	30	Lyon (FRA)
CM	Mbia	28	49 (3)	QPR (ENG)
CM	Makoun	31	66 (5)	Rennes (FRA)
CM	Song	26	46	Barcelona (ESP)
RF	Choupo-Moting	25	26 (12)	Mainz 05 (DEU)
CF	Eto'o	33	117 (56)	Chelsea (ENG)
LF	Webó	32	55 (18)	Fenerbahçe (TUR)

* Has appeared at a previous World Cup

Average Age: 27.7
Total Caps: 497
Best Odds: 1000/1 (Ladbrokes, Stan James, BetVictor)
Player to Watch: Joël Matip

The Indomitable Lions set off to their 7th world cup, a record for an African nation, and will feel they are there to do more than just make up the numbers. They will be hopeful of at least improving on their record of 3 defeats from 3 in South Africa.

Charles Itandje will play in goal. The former Liverpool man is now playing with Konyaspor in Turkey, and made a string of fine saves last October in the away leg of the qualification play-off against Tunisia, earning Cameroon an excellent 0-0 draw. Building on that foundation, a 4-1 victory at home sent Cameroon to Brazil.

With the easy bit out of the way, the rest of this preview comes with a severe health warning. Volker Finke has some very strong players to choose from, but unfortunately for him four of them are centre backs, two are left backs, six are defensive midfielders and four are strikers. After that there is little to choose from.

Quite how Finke will attempt to square that circle remains to be seen, and the selections in friendlies they have played so far would suggest Finke is still trying to work that himself. Marseille’s Nicolas N’Koulou and Galatasaray’s Aurélien Chedjou were a reliable centre-back partnership during qualifying, but the emergence of 22 year old Joël Matip of Schalke 04 is a massive complicating factor. 

Photo: Memorino

Matip (right) has been linked with both Manchester clubs, and Liverpool, and has all the attributes to make him look tailor made for a move to the premier league. He is a towering figure who is quick over the ground, and very comfortable on the ball. In addition to these attributes, he has been noted for his versatility. Schalke have occasionally played him as a defensive midfielder, where he has looked at ease, but given Cameroon's options in midfield this solves one problem by creating another. Given this issue I would wildly speculate that Finke may try him at right back. This would allow for N’Koulou & Chedjou to continue their partnership at centre back, and the selections in friendlies would suggest Henri Bedimo of Lyon is poised to be chosen over QPR's Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

In midfield Alex Song of Barcelona will play, as will Stéphane Mbia who has had a fine season at Sevilla on loan from QPR. They will probably be joined by Jean Makoun, who despite disappointing as Aston Villa, is now back in France and back to his best at Rennes. As mentioned earlier this will be a midfield comprised of defensive-minded players, who won't necessarily have the creative spark to unlock a defence. While this may be true, if the intense heat and humidity in Brazil effects the legs or minds of the opposition, their intense pressing game may well force mistakes in midfield.

Cameroon's version of 4-3-3 may be a much more old fashioned version of the system than we have become accustomed to seeing in recent years. Rather than a version of 4-3-3 that features 2 wingers, that can morph seamlessly into a 4-5-1, Cameroon's 3 forwards will be more along the lines of a centre forward, supported by 2 inside forwards. It will be no surprise to anyone that Samuel Eto'o will be the centre forward in that system. Eto'o will also captain the side. He is likely to be supported by Maxim Choupo-Moting of Mainz, who has featured regularly on the right in friendlies, and the experienced Pierre Webó of Fenerbahçe.

Finke has a reputation for setting up his teams to play a high defensive line, and to press the opposition all over the park. He certainly has the players to employ that system, and as I mentioned in my Croatia blog, they in particular may find Cameroon to be very awkward opponents if the conditions in Manaus are as extreme as predicted.