Brazil 2014; What Hope For Cameroon?

The placement of Cameroon alongside five times winner of the FIFA World Cup, Brazil, and other countries like Croatia and Mexico who have been up to the semi and quarter finals respectively, has created profound nostalgia amongst many Cameroonian football lovers.
The most recent put-up, which gave the team an impressive 4-1 victory against Tunisia qualifying them the seventh time for the competition since 1982, has raised the steam and morale of many Indomitable Lions’ zealots that even her placement in group ‘A’ with one of the best teams in the world cannot quench.
A Yaounde based die-hard supporter of the Lions, Valerie Viban, sees Cameroon beating Croatia and Mexico and making it up to the quarter finals and even beyond. 
“I think the Lions are the pace setter on the African continent when it comes to football. They set the pace in 1990, which was only met 20 years after in 2010 by Ghana…they will probably be going to Brazil to set another pace,” Viban said. 
Fako Bureau Editor of The Sun, Atia Tilarious, corroborates this but stressed on proper preparation: “playing in Group A against host Brazil will give Cameroon plenty of exposure, but pressure, given that they will be playing in front of a motivated home crowd. Mexico and Croatia may seem an easy ride for Cameroon, giving us the hope to get to the second round, but proper preparation and better performance in build-up friendlies, can take us even to the quarterfinals.” 
Jonas Ngong, another Lions’ fan in Kumba, says football is very unpredictable. He says the fact that Mexico has always defeated Brazil in most of their encounters does not mean Cameroon cannot defeat Mexico. 
“I see Cameroon beating Mexico, Croatia and drawing with Brazil,” argues Ngong. 
In Buea, Blessing Limbi agrees with this argument; “Our lions are Indomitable, when they are pushed to the wall like in the draws they give you the unexpected. Trust me,  'impossible  n’est pa Camerounais’. 
There are yet other supporters, like the Meme Dominic of Sweet FM in Douala, who think the how-far of the Indomitable Lions into the competition will only be determined by 14:30 on June 13, 2014 after their encounter with Mexico. 
However, the disgraceful come-back of the national team from South African in 2010 and the wrangles that have hitherto plagued the Lions’ den leading to their missing out of two consecutive African Nation Cup competitions; 2012 and 2013, has created a stigma in the minds of some supporters that it will take an unprecedented performance expunge.  
“I think the Lions will not win any match given the situation of the team, I’m not being pessimistic but being realistic. Look at what they did in South Africa in 2010…total mess! After the South African demise, one thought they had learnt a lesson but see what happened; they still missed two consecutive African Nation Cups. I have supported the Lions passionately but they keep failing me,” a Yaounde former Lions’ zealot, who preferred anonymity, quips.
He says he wants to avoid heart attack. 
“Some people are basing their hopes on the 4-1 defeat of Tunisia. Tunisia is more or less like a first division team in the country. The Lions will go nowhere; not when they are to lock horns with great teams like Brazil, Croatia and Mexico…We are dead Lions, a living dog is better”.
What Does History Say?
Retrospectively, Brazil is the most successful national football team in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with five championships: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Croatia on her part has qualified for and competed three times; 1998, 2002 and 2006 with their best performance registered in 1998 as third finishers.
For Mexico, they have qualified and competed 15 times for the tournament but has only made it twice to the quarter finals. Meanwhile Cameroon has qualified seven times for the tournament, more than any other African team (in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014) but has only made it once out of the group stage. They were the first African team to reach the quarter final in 1990.