Int'l Friendly: Serbia v Cameroon

Posted Saturday, June 05, 2010 by Goal.com

Both sides will consider themselves dark horses in the World Cup, but after recent results they will certainly want to record a positive result on Saturday...

Kick Off: Saturday, June 5, 2010. 20:30 CET
Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade

Nice Timing

After a highly promising qualifying campaign, things have stuttered a little for Serbia of late, and they will try to get back into a positive frame of mind ahead of the World Cup when they meet Cameroon on Saturday.

The White Eagles' first warm-up encounter ended disastrously as they were shocked by New Zealand in Austria. Following that result up was a scoreless draw against Poland, which coach Radomir Antic was broadly satisfied with.

“I am pleased with the match,” he told the press. “We gave a good performance in all phases of the game. We had a chance to score the goal, but we failed, although that is the least important. The conditions were such that it is important that no one was hurt.”

Serbia's performance in friendly matches has contradicted their competitive form. While blips such as the reverse to New Zealand, they were impressively consistent during their qualifying campaign. France trumped them early in the series, but otherwise they would only slip away to Lithuania, losing 2-1 in what was a meaningless match.

Antic's side are clearly capable of getting things right when it matters, so even a poor weekend result should not mean they are discounted as a dangerous side in South Africa.

Dozing Lions

Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen, meanwhile, is preparing his side for their third and final warm-up match, though their build-up has been dogged by controversy.

Striker Samuel Eto’o continues to be the talk of the Indomitable Lions in the run-up to the World Cup, but not for reasons the Inter ace would want. After threatening to quit the squad due to comments made over his commitment to the team by former World Cup hero Roger Milla, the former Barcelona man was dismissed early in the recent friendly against Portugal.

With the Indomitable Lions trailing 1-0 with little over ten minutes remaining before the break, the attacker picked up two quick-fire yellow cards, leaving his side shorthanded for a lengthy portion of the game. “The most important [thing] is to have Samuel Eto'o ready for the beginning of the World Cup,” Le Guen told the BBC.

The former Olympique Lyonnais and Paris Saint-Germain boss remains in an upbeat mood, despite the loss to the Seleccao. “I am still optimistic because I think we will get better,” he stated. “We can have a good team. We have to work during the next 10 days and we will be ready, I'm convinced.”

Thus far, Cameroon still have question marks hanging over their heads, and only once they have faced Japan, Netherlands and Denmark can any meaningful judgement on their true abilities be passed.

FORM GUIDE

Serbia

DREW 0-0 (n) Poland (Friendly, June 5)

LOST 1-0 (n) New Zealand (Friendly, May 29)

WON 4-0 (a) Japan (Friendly, April 7)

WON 3-0 (a) Algeria (Friendly, March 3)

WON 1-0 (h) South Korea (Friendly, November 18)

Cameroon

LOST 3-1 (a) Portugal (Friendly, June 1)

DREW 1-1 (a) Slovakia (Friendly, May 29)

WON 3-0 (h) Congo (Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, March 27)

DREW 1-1 (a) Congo (Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, March 14)

DREW 0-0 (n) Italy (Friendly, March 3)

TEAM NEWS

Serbia

Radomir Antic has taken the drawn the fact that none of his team were injured during the recent Poland friendly as the overriding positive from that match. An identical complement will therefore be available, though Ivica Dragutinovic and Bosko Jankovic are both absent due to long-standing injuries.

Probable Starting XI: Stojkovic, Ivanovic, Vidic, Lukovic, Kolarov; Krasic, Stankovic, Milijas, Jovanovic; Zigic, Pantelic

Cameroon

There have been no reports of any serious problems in the Cameroon camp following their defeat against Portugal, though it will be interesting to see how Paul Le Guen deals with the Samuel Eto’o situation after his star man was dismissed early against Portugal.

Probable Starting XI: Kameni; Mandjeck, Mbia, Nkoulou, Asso-Ekotto; A. Song, Makoun, Enoh; Eto’o, Emana, Idrissou

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Serbia

Lanky forward Nikola Zigic recently completed a switch from Valencia to Birmingham City, so with his future secured, the incredibly tall forward will once again be fully focussed on his efforts for Serbia. An awkward customer simply because of his unusual physical dimensions, he has 16 international goals to his name in nearly 50 appearances. Partly due to his lack of game-time over the last season, he is positioned 1647th in the Castrol Rankings.

Cameroon

Stephane Mbia was one of Olympique de Marseille’s top players as they claimed the Ligue 1 crown and he is now poised to star for his country too. Capable of playing in a myriad of positions, the former Stade Rennais player, who is reportedly being tracked by a number of top clubs, did a sterling job trying to shackle Ronaldo earlier in the week and will hope for an easier outing here.

PREDICTION

The White Eagles can be somewhat erratic in friendly encounters, so a positive result should not necessarily be anticipated. Cameroon, however, will have to raise their level significantly from what they mustered against Portugal if they are to pick up a positive result.

Serbia 1-0 Cameroon