by Tom Allen
This clash in Pretoria hardly excites but it's crucial nonetheless and
Denmark look plenty short enough to me.
Both enter the game on the back of losses in their opening match of South
Africa 2010 but while Denmark's defeat was hardly unexpected, Cameroon were
fancied to see-off a limited looking Japan outfit.
As it transpired, Japan put in an accomplished display when beating the
African side 1-0 on Monday but Cameroon showed enough in the second half to
suggest to me they are still to be taken seriously and I'm not sure they should
be such clear outsiders for this Group E match.
Denmark, unlike Cameroon, demonstrated very little against a talented Holland
side and while clearly the calibre of the opposition varied wildly in their
respective opening matches it was hard to find many positives to take from the
performance of Morten Olsen's side.
While Nickals Bendtner is decent enough at leading the line for the 1992
European Champions, there is a distinct lack of creativity in behind the Arsenal
man and I expect scoring goals to be a problem once more.
Wingers Jesper Gronkjaer and Dennis Rommedahl appear well past their best to
me and an energetic Cameroon side could overpower a Danish team that now looks
on the decline.
Having edged through qualifying for the finals thanks to a number of
excellent defensive displays, I expect Olsen's men to continue to find it hard
going to create much going forward against the better sides they are now facing
and we have seen time and again in South Africa just how difficult teams are
finding it to break down their opponents.
I don't think there's that much between the pair and, with Japan having
picked up unexpected points already, the race is now really on for the
runners-up spot.
Holland look poised to advance with ease, they face the Japanese in the early
game, but in a World Cup which has lacked much star quality to date Cameroon
will be hoping that Samuel Eto'o can provide some.
Eto'o, a Champions League winner with Inter Milan last season, often finds
himself in wide positions for his county but remains a threat and his fantastic
work ethic seems to filter through to the rest of his Cameroon team-mates.
On all known form, and from the very early evidence at the finals, there
really shouldn't be anything between the pair's prices and that makes Denmark
opposable. It's a game both need to win, and Cameroon's superior cutting edge is
tipped to prove the difference.
1pt Back Cameroon-Draw Double Chance @ 1/2 (888sport)
