Cameroon's boot is self-inflicted - Ghanaians

Most Ghanaians are of the view that African Champions, Cameroon, should have themselves to blame for bowing out of the World Cup at the group stages after failing to win their last match against Germany.

Interviews conducted by GNA Sports after the match showed that fans were disappointed as s they lament the early exit of Cameroon from the competition contrary to their expectations that the team will go beyond the last sixteen.


Many of the fans said the Indomitable lions must take all the blame since they had all the opportunities to beat Ireland in their opening group match but messed up the chances.


They also contended that the African champions should have been up by at least three goals in the first half of the game against Germany, but missed all the begging chances that came their way and allowed the Germans to make use of the few one's they had in the second half.


Mr Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, Vice Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), said there was no way Ireland could have stood before Cameroon in the opening match and this is the cause of the pain they are going through. He said if they had taken their chances in the first game and won the second match convincingly, they would have qualified for the second round easily.


Mr. Owusu-Ansah said they should come home and learn from their lessons so that they can do well the next time. Major (rtd) George Lamptey, a CAF Referees Instructor said, even though he did not watch the match, the high number of cards shown in the game was too much adding that the referee should have found a way of controlling the game.

He said the fault might come from the players, but believed the referee could have done something else about the situation. On the match, he said the Cameroonians lost to a better side and thinks they can do well next time.


Mr Herbert Addo head coach of Accra Hearts of Oak said there is nothing wrong with Cameroon coming out of the competition because it is normal in football. He said, "even the world champions, France are out of the competition and Cameroon's situation is no big news."


Mr Addo said though Cameroon were favourites among the African teams, "there is a difference between favourites and performance in a competition adding that they lost to a better team. This tournament is full of surprises, so I'm not surprised by the defeat at the hand of the Germans" Mr. Addo intimated.


Mr Seth Lamptey, national service personnel said the African challenge has been dealt a big blow since Cameroon was leading the agenda in the tournament. He was of the view that the Cameroonian team needs a technical shake up because Coach Winfred Schaefer has failed to make any meaningful impact on the team.


He said the German coach inherited a technically prepared team before the nations cup hence had it easy but stated that after the tournament he should have made some transformations in the team.

Mr Lamptey argued that the team is now ageing and there is the need to bring in fresh bloods since the likes of Rigobert Song, Raymond Kalla, Desire Job, Patrick Mboma are no more in good shape. He said the defeat was no surprise because the Germans can make use of their chances at any time in a game.


Cameroon were beaten by two goals to nil in their last group match against Germany and now joins Nigeria as the African countries being eliminated from the World Cup so far.


This is the third time they are bowing out at the group stages after reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, while the Nigerians have failed go beyond the group stage on two occasions after USA 1994 when got to the second round in the competition.


Senegal have already qualified for the knock out stages after a 3-3 draw game with Uruguay, while South Africa and Tunisia are still waiting for their last group matches to determine their fate.