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Cameroon’s
Indomitable Lions will hope to reproduce the feat of their African
brothers, Ghana, when they take on Japan in the only fixture involving
an African team at the World Cup today.

The Indomitable
Lions are the most experienced African side at the World Cup with six
appearances under their belt. They are looking to improve on their best
outing at the World Cup – a quarterfinal finish at the 1990 edition in
Italy. At the Free State Stadium; venue of the game, both teams will
hoping for the best start possible in a preliminary round in which
their other opponents include Denmark and group favourites, the
Netherlands.

The 2010 South
Africa World Cup marks Japan’s fourth straight appearance at the
Mundial, but that achievement has recently been overshadowed with a dip
in form seeing Japan losing to Serbia, South Korea, England and Cote‘d
Ivoire in four straight World Cup warm-up friendlies and then battling
to an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Zimbabwe in a their last training match
on June 3. The Japanese have failed to win a World Cup match on foreign
soil and are desperate to find their scoring touch.

In a surprise move,
Cameroon Coach Paul Le Guen has already hinted that regular goalkeeper
Carlos Kameni may be left on the bench. Samuel Eto’o is the Indomitable
Lion’s top striker. The Inter Milan and three-time Africa Footballer of
the Year will be looking to improve on his current 44 goal mark for
Cameroun. He will defintely be out to prove legend, Roger Milla, wrong
after the Italia 90 star accused him of doing nothing for the team; a
statement which initially made Eto’o threaten to quit the team.

Italy begin defence

Reigning champions,
Italy begin the defence of their World Cup crown against Paraguay
today. The Azzurris took the title four years ago in Germany and are
not likely relinquish their grip on the trophy without a struggle.
Italy’s preparations have done little to inspire confidence, with an
ageing squad looking alarmingly off the pace at times. Their back four,
which is marshalled by 36-year-old skipper Fabio Cannavaro, can
struggle to handle pace, which could prove to be their undoing.

Paraguay will
certainly be looking to give them an early examination, with the South
Americans heading into the tournament in buoyant mood. Victories over
Brazil and Argentina in qualifying underlined their quality and they
should not be underestimated this summer. Italy’s preparations have
been hampered by an untimely injury to Andrea Pirlo, which initially
cast his participation into doubt. The AC Milan midfielder has since
been given the all clear to push on with his rehabilitation, but he is
still likely to sit out the Azzurri’s first two games.

Holland facing Danish test

The Dutch team is
one of the seven teams that qualified for the World Cup without any
defeat even though some argue that the Orange boys were placed in an
easy group. Termed as favourites at every tournament, the team begins
its campaign against Denmark at the Johannesburg City Stadium today.

Denmark relies on
good organisation and a very strong defence. These qualities helped
them through qualifying in which they topped their group ahead of the
likes of Hungary, Sweden and Portugal.

Robben Blow Arjen
Robben has been ruled out of the World Cup opener due to a hamstring
injury after limping off in Holland’s June 5 friendly against Hungary.

Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk said that it was too risky to play
the Bayern Munich winger on Monday, but he said that he is hopeful of
Robben returning to the lineup in time to face Japan in the team’s
second match on June 19.