Samuel Eto'o has attempted to unify the Cameroon camp after their disappointing World Cup campaign.
Captain will not quit national team despite embarrassing exit
Samuel Eto'o has attempted to unify the Cameroon camp after their disappointing World Cup campaign.
The 29-year-old striker grabbed his second goal of the competition in Thursday's 2-1 defeat to Holland in what proved a fruitless tournament for the West African nation, who finished their Group E campaign bottom and without a point to their name.
High hopes were pinned onto Cameroon to reach the knock-out stages in their home continent, but off-field quarrels and a lack of cohesion on the pitch saw Paul Le Guen's side endure disappointing defeats to Japan and Denmark before finally losing to the Dutch.
Cameroon and Arsenal midfielder Alex Song claimed the once water-tight bond between the players had vanished heading into their final group game, but Eto'o has called for his team-mates to pull together and regain the dressing-room spirit they used to command.
"There's no point blaming one person or another," said Cameroon captain. "We have to focus on the future, and we don't have much time to build it."
"Everyone has to join together on this project, and we shouldn't have to do everything last minute.
"It's not good for our people, for our team or for our football."
Le Guen
The Indomitable Lions skipper was one of the few who acquitted himself well in South Africa, on the pitch at least.
The Inter Milan striker, who got into a war of words with Cameroon's 1990 finals legend Roger Milla prior to the World Cup, praised the efforts of coach Le Guen, who is now expected to step down.
"He did good things," Eto'o said. "Without him, we might not have even made the World Cup. You have to remember that."
Other players in the Cameroon camp were not so kind, however.
"I am furious with the coach," striker Mohamadou Idrissou said. "I'm from Cameroon, there are people who are here for us, but who are lying to us. They are not here for the country and that's why we have to go home."
Midfielder Stephane M'Bia blamed Cameroon's failure on disharmony in the dressing room.
"People are talking about the France team but it's even worse with us," he told
RTL radio. "We have to do something because things are not good in the squad."
