Cameroon will battle it out with Serbia in their 2022 FIFA World Cup Group G match at Education City Stadium on Monday afternoon.
Kick-off is at 11h00 GMT.
The Indomitable Lions started their World Cup campaign on a bad note as they fell 1-0 at the hands of Switzerland. Cameroon’s shaky defence allowed Yaoundé-born forward Breel Embolo to score against his country of birth.
Cameroon coach Rigobert Song was left was left to reflect on his side’s inability to capitalise on their chances, but felt they still deserved more from the match.
“Generally in football, when you are dominating, you need to hit the back of the net, it is not enough to have ball possession,” he said.
“We missed that final touch [to score], we were hungry for the win, but the goal did not come.
“If you look at our team, only three players of the 26 have played in a World Cup before. This is a new generation of players. There is still everything to play for. We have not lost hope.
“The mistakes that were made today [on Thursday] will not be made again in the next game. In football, anything is possible.
“We believe in this dream. We have come here with a mission to accomplish. I am a competitor.”
As for Serbia, Dragon Stojkovic’s men kicked off their World Cup bid with a 2-0 loss against favorites Brazil when the two teams played Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
The Eagles are not in a great form as they have lost nine of their last 11 World Cup games but Stojkovic is optimistic that his boys will change the tide.
“Are we going to be offensive? Well, we will be because in order to score a goal, you have to attack. We must be a compact team that knows exactly what it is doing on the field,” Stojkovic said at a news conference yesterday.
“We hope that we will be at our best level and that through our style of play we will be able to tame the ‘lions’. I believe in my team and I think that, as far as we are concerned, everything will be fine. We will try to come out with the strongest team against Cameroon,” Stojkovic told reporters.
“Serbia will play for a win as it has played in the last two years. We respect all our rivals and we respect Cameroon. They are a very strong team and they can cause problems for everyone,” he said.
Cameroon are aiming to qualify for the knockout round for the first time since their quarter-final appearance in 1990.
The Indomitable Lions are without a win at the finals since 2002, after missing out in 2018 and losing all of their group stage games in 2010 and 2014.
In head-to-head stats,Cameroon has played Serbia where the Red Eagles emerged 4-3 victorious in an international friendly played way back in 2010.
