Cameroon and Mexico will hope to put their pre-tournament
issues to one side when they get their FIFA World Cup campaigns under way.
All attention on Group A is focused on the tournament's
curtain-raiser between Brazil and Croatia in Sao Paulo on Thursday.
Hosts Brazil are hot favourites to win the pool, with the
other three teams expected to battle it out for second spot.
Therefore both Cameroon and Mexico can use Friday's clash
in Natal as an opportunity to lay down their claim for progression to the last
16.
Both teams endured different kinds of problems in the
lead up to the World Cup, with Mexico only just scraping through their
qualifying section.
Under the stewardship of Jose Manuel de la Torre, the
Mexicans cruised through the first stage of the CONCACAF qualification phase,
winning all six of their matches.
But their campaign was in severe danger of unravelling in
the final group stage.
Mexico won just twice in 10 fixtures in that round, with
De la Torre losing his job after a 2-1 home loss to Honduras in September last
year.
His successor Miguel Herrera eventually guided Mexico to
a resounding 9-3 aggregate win over New Zealand in the intercontinental
play-off and a sixth consecutive World Cup finals.
However, despite Mexico's underwhelming qualification
performance, Cameroon coach Volker Finke is refusing to underestimate Herrera's
side.
"I know that (Mexico) had a lot of problems in
qualifying and that it was difficult, but it is a very dangerous team, with an
intense spirit," he said.
"We've seen the videos of their friendly games and I
can see that it is a difficult team, but one that can be beaten."
Unlike their opponents, Cameroon strolled through
qualifying, topping the potentially tricky Group I ahead of Libya, Congo DR and
Togo, before dispatching Tunisia 4-1 on aggregate in the play-off round.
However, the team have since been beset with issues
relating to bonus payments, with Cameroon’s players reportedly refusing to
board the plane to Brazil due to the row.
The situation was eventually resolved, although it
remains to be seen whether the disagreement has affected their preparations -
despite Finke’s assertions that it has not.
Finke looks set to have a full-strength squad to choose
from, with his side to be spearheaded by talismanic captain Samuel Eto'o.
Herrera, on the other hand, has had numerous injury
problems in recent weeks, with Luis Montes sustaining a broken leg in their
pre-tournament friendly against Ecuador.
Skipper Rafael Marquez will be fit, though, despite
suffering a foot injury in the same match.
Culled from Soccerway
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