Rudi’s men can’t afford to lose

“It’s better than that of many other teams,” added the former World Cup striker, whose side need a draw to make sure they reach the knock-out stage — their minimum aim after a shaky run in qualifying and a string of injuries in the build-up to the finals. “We’re unbeaten and our fate is in our hands. We have every reason to be confident.”

Cameroon, second to Germany in the group on goal difference, realistically have to win — since Ireland are quite likely to beat Saudi Arabia by two clear goals in Yokohama at the same time — and their German coach, Winfried Schaefer, believes they can.

“I have said before that I would have preferred to avoid playing Germany in the first round but this is not Schaefer against Voeller,” said the Cameroon coach, a popular figure in Germany after a long playing career there and coaching spells with Karlsruhe SC and VFB Stuttgart.

“This is the first against the second and I like our chances.” Germany looked revived as they opened their campaign with an 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia — the highest total at a finals for 20 years — but a 1-1 draw against a brave Ireland side followed, leaving them in danger of making an early exit.

But Cameroon, who started with a 1-1 draw with Ireland before struggling to a narrow 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia, dreamt of reviving the spirit of 1990, when Roger Milla and company went all the way to the quarter-finals before losing to England. (Reuters)