Eto'o bemoans early exit
Source: Agencies |
June 21, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
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A DESPONDENT Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o said his side, the highest ranked African team at the World Cup, had missed a great opportunity to do something special after it exited the continent's first World Cup.
Cameroon lost 1-2 to Denmark in Pretoria on Saturday night despite taking an early lead and playing some excellent soccer, leaving it to fight just for pride in its last Group E match against the Netherlands on June 24. The side, African soccer's most experienced challenger playing in its sixth World Cup, will also face some tricky questions when it returns home after its campaign became marred by a row between senior players and coach Paul Le Guen.
"This was a great opportunity to do something big but it wasn't to be," Eto'o told reporters, minutes after the game. "God is the only one who rules in this moment and he wanted it to turn out like this."
The Indomitable Lions played fast, entertaining and attractive football against the Danes at Loftus Versfeld Stadium and they went ahead after 10 minutes with an Eto'o opener.
But they lacked the killer touch from there on and failed to convert any of their many chances, falling behind to goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Dennis Rommedahl. Their players fell to the ground in shock after the final whistle blew.
The performance, however, was a marked improvement from their first match, which they lost 0-1 to Japan, after coach Le Guen reshuffled his line up following complaints from his senior players.
Frenchman Le Guen said he had no regrets over his selections for the two games and said he had no intention of resigning. "All teams are difficult to manage," he said. "It's a great job, even in this case, it's a great job."
Le Guen, who had earlier challenged his players to show some of the "lion spirit" they were always talking about, said his side had shown the right attitude throughout the match and added he hoped they would reproduce that against the Dutch.
"Whilst my contract is running I'll do my very best for the Cameroonian football federation," he said. "I hope they will defend the national colors of the team."
Denmark coach Morten Olsen, meanwhile, displayed dual emotions after the match, almost tearing his hair out at his side's amateurish errors but lauding their heroic fighting spirit.
"We had far too many elementary mistakes. I can't allow that from our players," he said. "We must correct that so I wasn't happy actually. But the players fought heroically, some of them didn't play well today but they did fight."
Cameroon lost 1-2 to Denmark in Pretoria on Saturday night despite taking an early lead and playing some excellent soccer, leaving it to fight just for pride in its last Group E match against the Netherlands on June 24. The side, African soccer's most experienced challenger playing in its sixth World Cup, will also face some tricky questions when it returns home after its campaign became marred by a row between senior players and coach Paul Le Guen.
"This was a great opportunity to do something big but it wasn't to be," Eto'o told reporters, minutes after the game. "God is the only one who rules in this moment and he wanted it to turn out like this."
The Indomitable Lions played fast, entertaining and attractive football against the Danes at Loftus Versfeld Stadium and they went ahead after 10 minutes with an Eto'o opener.
But they lacked the killer touch from there on and failed to convert any of their many chances, falling behind to goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Dennis Rommedahl. Their players fell to the ground in shock after the final whistle blew.
The performance, however, was a marked improvement from their first match, which they lost 0-1 to Japan, after coach Le Guen reshuffled his line up following complaints from his senior players.
Frenchman Le Guen said he had no regrets over his selections for the two games and said he had no intention of resigning. "All teams are difficult to manage," he said. "It's a great job, even in this case, it's a great job."
Le Guen, who had earlier challenged his players to show some of the "lion spirit" they were always talking about, said his side had shown the right attitude throughout the match and added he hoped they would reproduce that against the Dutch.
"Whilst my contract is running I'll do my very best for the Cameroonian football federation," he said. "I hope they will defend the national colors of the team."
Denmark coach Morten Olsen, meanwhile, displayed dual emotions after the match, almost tearing his hair out at his side's amateurish errors but lauding their heroic fighting spirit.
"We had far too many elementary mistakes. I can't allow that from our players," he said. "We must correct that so I wasn't happy actually. But the players fought heroically, some of them didn't play well today but they did fight."
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