World Cup 2010 Blog: Cameroon World Cup Team History |  |
| Cameroon World Cup Team History Posted: 25 Mar 2010 06:10 PM PDT
Apart from having the coolest nickname in the sport, Indomitable Lions, which is enough for as many as five or six of those World Cup trinkets, Cameroon have actually played in a few too. Though their successes on the pitch may not match up with their nicknaming abilities, they’re one of the more present African teams in recent times, which bodes well going into a World Cup on African soil. Now enough with the present and future – to the past we go. 1982 World Cup (Spain)Cameroon might be one of the only teams to have made its World Cup debut undefeated. The only slight problem is they also didn’t win any games, scoring a solitary goal and ending nil-nil twice. Ending undefeated, yes, but also ending prematurely. It was a great deal closer than one might expect – Group A in 1982 was just an abysmal group for lovers of the high-flying game; of the 6 contested games in the group, 3 ended 0-0, 2 ended 1-1 and only Poland’s 5-1 thumping of Peru provided more than a passing glance at goals – and though they’d gone nil-nil in both of their opening games, Cameroon arrived at the third and final game with Italy with a genuine chance at the knockouts. Francesco Graziani scored the first in the 60th, seemingly dumping Cameroon out, but they fought back within a minute through Gregoire Mbida for their lone goal of the tournament, which was not enough. Italy, despite also failing to win in the groups, would go through with two goals scored and then would go on to win the whole damn thing. Somehow. 1990 World Cup (Italy)While Cameroon made their debut at the ‘82 World Cup, they didn’t well and truly arrive until ‘90, when Roger Milla danced them through Italy. Roger had quite literally retired to the tropics, taking refuge on Reunion, an island east of Madagascar, though still playing club football there, when the president called to request his presence for the 1990 World Cup. And when the president requests a favor, it’s awfully difficult to say no. The Lions ended their last World Cup losing to the eventual champions, so as a bit of revenge they opened up their next World Cup by upsetting (a hobbled) Maradona’s Argentina, the defending champions. They were offered a bit (a lot) of help from Nery Pumpido, Argentina’s keeper, who almost pushed Francois Omam-Biyik’s goal over the line, but it was a tremendous show of athleticism from Omam-Biyik, who could’ve poked his head into the cockpit of a plane flying above the San Siro. The slack-jawed look plastered across Juan Simon’s (#20) face in the picture at the top says just as much as the header itself. More incredibly, this came six minutes after Cameroon had been sent down to 10 men; before the final whistle, they would be relegated further to nine men. But it would not matter as Cameroon would hold Diego Maradona and champions Argentina scoreless for their first ever World Cup win, and one of the bigger upsets in history. Having dispatched of the impossible task in the first game, a 38 year old Roger Milla would come off the bench to cement their spot in the knockouts with two late goals in a 2-1 win over Romania, and begin to cement a place in African football legend. The third game would be of no consequence to Cameroon, and they would be thrashed 4-0 by the Soviet Union – something which would become a familiar sight under a different name. The first knockout match against Colombia was so good for Milla & Cameroon, it was deserving of its own post. They would meet up with a still-peeved England in the quarterfinals, cursing Maradona and his Hand of God all the way. They would get their revenge – against an innocent party – in the form of a 25th minute David Platt header. Cameroon would fight back through you know who, Roger Milla, who was taken down by Gazza in the box in the 61st. The penalty slotted home, the wheels would look to be coming off for England when Cameroon scored just four minutes later. Eugene Ekeke would be freed to net so smoothly, once again, by the ageless wonder that was Milla. And then Gary Lineker would enter. With minutes fading, he’d win and convert a penalty a mere yard inside the box to force extra time. In extra time it was again Lineker, put through on Thomas Nkono by an exquisite Gazza ball, and then won a penalty. Whether there was an actual foul is up for debate – Lineker seemed to be into a dive before Nkono arrived – but the result isn’t: penalty scored halfway through extra time. The overly flamboyant ref Edgardo Codesal, who got into a bit of heat in the final, whistled and the Cameroonian dream was over. But it wasn’t all bad – or bad at all: Cameroon had gone farther than any African team in history, while Roger Milla had become a dancing superstar. 1994 World Cup (USA)Despite the success of 1990, their trek to America wouldn’t be nearly as successful – and once again it began with the group stage draw. In ‘82 they drew Italy, eventual winner; in ‘90 they drew Argentina, defending champion and eventual finalist; and in ‘94 they drew Brazil, another eventual champion. This hurt more than the previous two as ‘94 was the first year two teams went through to the knockouts rather than three. It wouldn’t start out horribly – some could even say the opposite – with a draw against a Swedish side that would go on to finish third place in the tournament, but the Brazilian game is where the problems started (as you’d expect). With an upset possible, though without the element of surprise they’d enjoyed in ‘90 unlikely, they were beaten soundly by Brazil 3-0. That’s when they would meet up with one part of old nemesis USSR in the form of Russia with qualification still possible. The USSR had beaten them 4-0 in ‘90, and it wasn’t any prettier the against the Russian edition. A six to one loss befell them, with two records set – one fondly remembered by Cameroon, the other less so: Roger Milla became the oldest man to score a goal in World Cup history at 42, while Oleg Salenko set a World Cup record with 5 goals. A nice consolation prize for Milla, but finishing last in the group probably requires a bit more. 1998 World Cup (France)It was to be another group stage exit in 1998, and this time without Roger Milla – who may or may not have been contemplating a second comeback at the time – but with a twist: it all came down to a highly controversial disallowed goal which saw Chile through instead of Cameroon. Coming down to the last day, Cameroon had drawn 1-1 with Austria and lost to Italy 3-0, needing a win and a loss/draw from Austria to go through. Chile opened up an early 1-0 lead inside the half hour with a lovely, curling free kick off the boot of Jose Luis Sierra. Cameroon would be struck another blow in the 51st after Rigobert Song was sent off, the second time in as many World Cups, for an elbow on Marcelo Salas. And as such, he holds the record for World Cup red cards, two, along with a certain Zinedine Zidane, who would go on to enjoy a different kind of fame in ‘98. The Indomitable Lions, bringing back the indomitability they displayed in Italy, equaled the score down to ten just minutes later with another leaping header, this time via Patrick Mboma. Right away they were back at it, scoring the second – or so it seemed. The referee called for a foul which video replays indicate simply didn’t happen. Towards the end of the game they would be further handicapped, down to nine, and Chile would earn the draw and the chance to lose to Brazil in the knockouts. A very disappointing exit which didn’t sit well with anyone in the Cameroonian camp. Though it did bring forth some hope in the future: in the 3-0 loss to Italy, a 17yo by the name of Samuel Eto’o made his World Cup debut. Cameroon would like this very much for many, many years. 2002 World Cup (South Korea/Japan)It never bodes well for a World Cup when your attire makes more waves than your football. These sleeveless numbers were banned…
…and were then replaced by these:
(These attempts at fashion pioneering would prove to be a Cameroonian theme.) Back to the old ways, Cameroon managed to net another finalist in the form of Germany, with Ireland and Saudi Arabia there to battle it out for second honors. But hopes and expectations were high, with the Lions two-time defending champions of the African Cup of Nations. And just as in the previous four tournaments, they’d earn at least a point on the opening day, a 1-1 against Ireland. The lone Cameroon goal setup by that Eto’o feller, now coming into his own: In the second game, against Saudi Arabia, the world would get a glimpse of what was becoming and what has become a trademark: a burst of pace and a cool finish from Samuel Eto’o. It would give them a 1-0 win, their first win since the knockout victory over Colombia in Italy. Despite two fairly good results, this setup a very tricky last day scenario: Cameroon would have to manage at least a point against Germany while hoping Saudi Arabia could roadblock Ireland from three points. The problem is Saudi Arabia were merely there for the parting gifts, losing 8-0 to Germany early and eventually going out 32nd of 32 teams. Cameroon would lose to Germany, but they wouldn’t go out without a fight – or several. While they had their chances, the game would be defined more by discipline than anything near the nets – 16 yellow cards handed out, one red card apiece. A record which stood alone until the infamous Portugal – Netherlands game in 2006. And with that, Cameroon were knocked out as Ireland had defeated Saudi Arabia quite easily. Three straight group stage exits and failed qualification in 2006 means Cameroon will come out swinging in South Africa – particularly if they pick up where they left off. For more on Cameroon, read Shane’s Cameroon blog.
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