On Friday (June 13), Mexico will take on Cameroon in the second match of the 2014 World Cup, also marking completion of the first phase in Group A’s fixtures.
Although both teams share not much history between themselves, Mexico has been tipped as favourites to bag this one. Competing in their sixteenth World Cup competition against Cameroon’s six, Mexico has belief and faith they will have an eventful World Cup.
The team is sure to draw strength from their turbulent times during qualification stages. At some point it looked like they won’t make it for Brazil. They showed a good fighting spirit that paid-off eventually.
While the Mexicans will rely on the talent and eye for goal of Manchester United’s Javier Chicharito Hernandez, Cameroon will on the opposite end look up to Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o. The latter enjoyed his season at Stamford Bridge, paying back the faith coach Jose Mourinho showed in recalling him to the team.
Eto’o has shone before, and he has potential to emulate his past performances.
But the recent debacle within the Cameroon camp could impact negatively to their campaign. A bonus pay dispute saw players boycotting a flight to Brazil, only to board at a later stage after the country’s football federation agreed on terms to pay out.
Pundits believe Cameroon might do better this time around since Africa’s representation is on five, as opposed to in the past when Cameroon were loners and carried the hopes of the entire African continent.
Friday’s encounter between this two could prove a humdinger, and perhaps individual brilliance could steal the show on the day.
– By Tshepo Tsheole
