Eto’o looms large over Japan-Cameroon opener

BLOEMFONTEIN - Japan and Cameroon kick off their World Cup football campaign with a Group E clash Monday that pits Africa’s most successful team in the competition against an Asian side desperate to regain form after a woeful warm-up run.

At the Free State Stadium both teams will hoping for the strongest start possible in a preliminary round in which their opponents include Denmark and group favourites, the Netherlands.

South Africa marks Japan’s fourth straight appearance in the World Cup finals, but that achievement has recently been overshadowed by another figure - four straight losses in their final official matches.

The build-up to their 2010 World Cup debut also included a goalless training encounter against Zimbabwe that further emphasized Japan’s lack of firepower - just one goal in their last five games.

Cameroon, who in South Africa make their sixth World Cup finals appearance are looking to improve on their and Africa’s best World cup placing - a quarterfinal spot in Italy in 1990.

They too have failed to find a win from their last three warm-up matches which included defeats against Portugal and Serbia.

But in sharp contrast to Japan, the African side managed to score in each of those matches, with a final tally of four goals.

And goals are what Cameroon’s talismanic player Samuel Eto’o is all about.

In South Africa the Inter Milan striker and three-time Africa Footballer of the Year will be looking to reach and pass the half-century mark of goals scored for his country. His tally currently stands at 44.

But for Japan he does not represent the only threat.

“Cameroon are not just about Eto’o,” experienced Japanese midfield Junichi Inamoto said.

“They also have physical attacking midfielders,” he added.

Inamoto is not expected to start against Cameroon, but team captain and Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe is almost certain to feature from the kick-off in Bloemfontein.

“It is getting better again and I feel okay,” the 26-year-old Hasebe said, referring to a back injury he picked up in the team’s penultimate warm-up game, a 2-0 defeat against the Ivory Coast.

In a surprise move, Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen has announced that regular goalkeeper Carlos Kameni will be left on the bench in favour of could also be another surprise exclusion, 36-year-old Hamidou Souleymanou.