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Group E - Japan V Cameroon, BBC1, 3pm


bomma

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Japan-Flag.jpg V cm-lgflag.gif

Venue: Bloemfontein

Date: Monday, 14 June 2010

Kick-off: 15:00 BST

Coverage: BBC1, BBC HD and BBC Radio 5 live, live video and live text commentary on this website (UK only)

TEAM NEWS

Coach Takeshi Okada has experimented with various line-ups in recent games, with CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda used as a lone front man in the training-ground friendly with Zimbabwe. Midfielder Makoto Hasebe has overcome a back injury and looks set to start.

Cameroon boss Paul Le Guen says he has 23 players fit and available but has hinted that Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song might not make the starting XI. In another surprise, 36-year-old Hamidou Souleymanou will replace regular Idriss Kameni in goal.

MATCH PREVIEW

It was two decades ago that Roger Milla lit up Italia '90 where Cameroon became the first African nation ever to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. Twenty years later and the Indomitable Lions will be looking to another striker to inspire their World Cup bid. Samuel Eto'o is a three-time African Footballer of the Year and one of the best goalscorers in the world, but he arrives in South Africa under a cloud following his threat to quit on the eve of the tournament, ironically following criticism from Milla.

Cameroon will need a fully focused Eto'o as they look to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since that memorable run in Italy. Head coach Paul Le Guen believes a repeat of the quarter-final run by the class of 1990 is a "reasonable objective". Defensive lapses, however, remain a worry and were evident during a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign in January, when they were eliminated at the last-eight stage.

Japan's preparations for this tournament could hardly have gone any worse. They have lost their last four matches, and this week could only draw 0-0 with Zimbabwe in a hastily arranged training-ground match. Goals are a major concern, with only England failing to keep them at bay in recent weeks.

Japan's poor run has given further ammunition to those who ridiculed coach Takeshi Okada's claim that his side have a chance of reaching the semi-finals. Okada, who led his country at the 1998 World Cup, reportedly offered to quit in the aftermath of his side's 2-0 defeat to South Korea in May, but later claimed he was joking. No one in his homeland will be laughing if the Blue Samurai's bid for a first World Cup win on foreign soil ends in failure.

MATCH STATS

Head-to-head

- Japan are unbeaten in three meetings with Cameroon and are yet to concede a goal against them (P3 W2 D1).

The most recent encounter was a 2-0 friendly win for Japan in August 2007.

Japan

The last of Japan's two victories at the World Cup took place exactly eight years ago on 14 June, when they ran out 2-0 victors over Tunisia in Osaka.

- The Blue Samurai also made their World Cup debut on 14 June 1998, with a 1-0 defeat to Argentina.

- They have never won a World Cup match on foreign soil, losing five of their six games.

Cameroon

- The Indomitable Lions have qualified for the World Cup six times - more than any other African side.

- Cameroon have never lost an opening World Cup match, having drawn four and won one. That victory was a famous 1-0 defeat of then-reigning champions Argentina in 1990.

- Paul Le Guen's side are on a seven-game winless run.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)

Assistants: Jose Cardinal, Bertino Miranda (both Portugal)

Fourth official: Oscar Ruiz (Colombia)

Uninspiring fixture again. But Mon Cameroon.

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Damn it :( I got beaten to the thread. I want Cameroon to win this one. They never seem to perform despite having a strong squad of players. Imo one of the strongest of all the African nations. I am going to say 3-1 to Cameroon, hopefully. Although I do like Japan, I like Cameroon more :D

Forgot to bring my Cameroon shirt to uni :(

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Guest roberto922

One of the few WC fixtures I've seen and just thought 'meh'

I like a couple of the Cameroon players though, so mon Cameroon!

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Is Kameni injured? :(

Really fancying Cameroon but that may be down to me being good with them at FIFA rather than them being good. Wish I didn't leave my shirt at home :(

Haha yeah i feel the same, i love playing as them on FIFA, but they've been pretty good when ive seen them before. Wearing my Japan shirt ;)

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Haha yeah i feel the same, i love playing as them on FIFA, but they've been pretty good when ive seen them before. Wearing my Japan shirt ;)

Japan shirt? :( Im not talking to you anymore :D

Are Cameroon usually not as good as they are supposed to be? That teams to me looks better than Ghana's tbh but then take out Eto'o and they won't be as tasty.

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Anyone else's BBC website not working? Trying to pop this on while I do some revision, but all I get is the spinning disc in the middle of the middle of the screen and no stream at all. Bloody annoying.

Shock horror it works fine on IE as well, Firefox has been utterly dreadful recently for some reason.

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Japan shirt? :( Im not talking to you anymore :D

Are Cameroon usually not as good as they are supposed to be? That teams to me looks better than Ghana's tbh but then take out Eto'o and they won't be as tasty.

Haha, i almost got a Cameroon one during the ACoN, but ended up not bothering.

Yeah, i think Without Eto'o they would probably struggle, and about them being as good as they are supposed to be, i wouldnt know, ive only seen them a few times, but there team now may be better, or worse, we'll have to wait and see.

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Anyone else's BBC website not working? Trying to pop this on while I do some revision, but all I get is the spinning disc in the middle of the middle of the screen and no stream at all. Bloody annoying.

Shock horror it works fine on IE as well, Firefox has been utterly dreadful recently for some reason.

Starts in about 3mins

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Anyone else's BBC website not working? Trying to pop this on while I do some revision, but all I get is the spinning disc in the middle of the middle of the screen and no stream at all. Bloody annoying.

Shock horror it works fine on IE as well, Firefox has been utterly dreadful recently for some reason.

having the very same problems as you. IE works fine and my Firedox has been crap for a while too

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Starts in about 3mins

Aye, but none of the other stuff was working either. And still it's not working. At this rate I'm not going to see the match as it's stopped working on IE now. Will try TV Catchup, but this is a real pain as it's nice to have the statistics that the BBC provide.

EDIT: Yeah, think I might go for Chrome if this carries on. Having said all that, IE has given up now. I've just got the spinning disc and the image of the Cameroonian fans.

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