The mighty fall at first hurdle

Cameroon will be gunning for another team on the 2002 World Cup podium when they meet Turkey in a Confederations Cup Group B match in Paris ...

Cameroon will be gunning for another team on the 2002 World Cup podium when they meet Turkey in a Confederations Cup Group B match in Paris on Saturday.

The 8220;Indomitable Lions8221; toppled world champions Brazil 1-0 in Paris on Thursday while Turkey, who finished third in the Korea/Japan World Cup finals, came from behind to beat the United States in St Etienne. The winners will virtually secure a berth in the last four of the eight-nation tournament.

Parreira still hopes Brazil can qualify

PARIS: A disappointed Carlos Alberto Parreira said Brazil have little choice but to win their next two matches if they want to carry on in the Confederations Cup after their 1-0 upset defeat to Cameroon in Paris on Thursday. 8220;We knew that in a tournament with such a tight schedule we could not afford to lose the opening game,8221; the coach told reporters. 8220;Now we know that we will have to win our next two games if we want to have to chance to play the final. We lost tonight but we don8217;t give anything up. I must pay tribute to Cameroon, who deserved to win,8221; Parreira said. 8220;We played pretty good football and we controlled the game during the first half but they defended well too. Then they started to gain confidence as time went by and in the second half they geared up and eventually scored this goal. Brazil have now won just one match from their five outings in the Confederations Cup following their disappointing display in Japan two years ago. Wilfried Schaefer8217;s Cameroon received an ovation from the 46,000 fans at the Stade de France after the match. Reuters

Cameroon looked in good physical shape and disciplined mood in their opening match sealed with a superb goal by young striker Samuel Eto8217;O seven minutes from time.

It was a great contrast from the squad stranded for five days at Paris airport because of an organisational mix-up before last year8217;s World Cup.

8220;We have worked a lot and we have prepared ourselves for this tournament,8221; coach Wilfried Schaefer told a news conference. 8220;We set up a strategy and it paid off. Now we are going to carry on working to be ready for Turkey as a second victory will virtually qualify us for the semi-finals,8221; he said.

The main question Schaefer now faces is which side to pick after fielding his best against the Brazilians. With only a one-day break, the players are short of time to recover and Schaefer will have to rely on his bench. 8220;We have young and gifted guys. They get along well with the older and experienced ones,8221; he said. 8220;I8217;m not worried. The other teams have to cope with the same situation.8221;

Turkey, who are representing Europe in the absence of World Cup runners-up Germany, confirmed they can no longer be taken lightly even when deprived of a number of key players. Their victory left coach Senol Gunes partially disappointed because he believes Turkey should have won by a bigger margin.

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Down 1-0 after a fine goal by striker DaMarcus Beasley in the 37th minute, Turkey fought back to equalise from the penalty spot thanks to Okan Yilmaz three minutes later before Tuncay Sanli netted the winner in the 73rd.

Gunes8217;s young team showed great attacking inspiration but lacked efficiency and experience.

8220;We missed a number of chances during the first half. Had we taken one or two of them, the second half would have been totally different,8221; said Gunes.

The solid Cameroon defence can expect another tough challenge in Paris. Reuters