Le Guen quits as Cameroon coach after exit | World Cup 2010

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By Alexandra Hudson

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Cameroon’s French coach Paul Le Guen has quit after his side’s exit from the World Cup where they failed to earn a single point.

“My contract is coming up, and it was clear all along I would stop now. Maybe I didn’t succeed in unifying the team and bringing the team together,” Le Guen told reporters after a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands capped a miserable campaign that also included losses to Japan and Denmark.

“I will not point figures or accuse anyone. I thought I would have got better results with this match,” he added.

The former Olympique Lyon and Rangers manager refused to comment on rumors he may coach Australia.

Australia’s coach Pim Verbeek is stepping down with his team also eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in the group stage.

“I am at the end of this mission. It was planned to be this way. I am going to think about the future and we will see,” Le Guen added.

Le Guen inspired a renaissance during Cameroon’s World Cup qualifying campaign last year, restoring his coaching reputation.

Lyon signed him as the successor to Jacques Santini when he was appointed France’s manager in 2002. Lyon had won their first Ligue 1 title under Santini but Le Guen took them to three more championships.

At Rangers, he lasted just over six months after falling out with his captain and sparking protests by fans outside the ground but within weeks of his Scottish exit, Le Guen was back working at former club Paris St Germain, helping them to avoid relegation at the end of the 2006/2007 season.

But the club’s fortunes did not improve much the season after and Le Guen needed police protection from militant fans angry at PSG’s poor results. Despite reaching the French Cup final, and winning the League Cup, under Le Guen, PSG decided in May 2009 to let the coach go.

Le Guen signed a five-month contract with Cameroon in July 2009 and was tasked with turning around their stuttering qualifying campaign. He insisted on bringing in support staff and demanded the federation provide the squad with proper facilities, equipment and top-class accommodation.

He then signed a contract extension to see Cameroon through to the World Cup finals.

Dutch beat Cameroon 2-1 | World Cup 2010

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Dutch beat Cameroon 2-1 | World Cup 2010

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)—The players were delighted, the coach was discomforted.

So which is the real Netherlands team at the World Cup?

The Dutch produced their first goals of flair and finesse to beat Cameroon 2-1 and set up a second-round match with Slovakia.

Robin Van Persie finished off an end-to-end move in the 36th minute, and substitute Arjen Robben sent a shot against the post in the 83rd that Klaas Jan Huntelaar only had to slide in for the winner.

In between, Samuel Eto’o scored on penalty kick for Cameroon.

The Dutch won Group E with three victories. They play Slovakia on Monday in Durban.

“Our play was good,” Van Persie said. “We can be really pleased with this.”

Not necessarily, according to coach Bert van Marwijk.

“We were far too nonchalant in the second half,” Van Marwijk complained. “Our final spell put us on the right track again, but consider this a serious warning.”

Perhaps Van Marwijk was seeking to avoid his team getting overconfident as it heads into the knockout round.

Playing with poise and confidence, the Dutch often thrilled the crowd of 63,093 with their creative moves. Yet Eto’o and Cameroon often were able to pierce the defense and threaten goalie Maarten Stekelenburg.

In the 73rd minute, the tens of thousands of orange-clad fans in the Green Point Stadium cheered when Robben made his debut at the World Cup almost three weeks after sustaining a left hamstring injury in a warmup game. He immediately showed his value.

After tiptoeing carefully during his first moves, he was served a pass on the right wing 10 minutes after coming on. With a move so often seen during his sterling season with Bayern Munich, he cut inside, beat defenders and curled a shot past goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou. It crashed against the post and Huntelaar was in the right place to give the Netherlands the win.

“It is good to be back. I had to get back in the groove and it worked. Too bad the shot did not go in,” Robben said.

Added Netherlands defender John Heitinga: “He showed he can really break open any game.”

Cameroon lost all three of its matches. After the third loss, coach Paul Le Guen announced he was leaving the position with Cameroon.

“I ended my mission. Now I will reflect carefully,” he said.

After two victories, coach Bert van Marwijk sought to keep the momentum and played both midfielder Nigel de Jong and Van Persie, even though both would have been excluded from the Slovakia game if they drew another yellow card.

Instead, Van Persie scored a typical Dutch goal in the 36th minute, one that flowed from defense to attack with crisp, pinpoint passing and ended with a precise shot.

After Dirk Kuyt took the ball up the right side, Van Persie played a neat one-two with Rafael van der Vaart, and then shot through the legs of Souleymanou from a tight angle.

Cameroon, which put Africa on the soccer map when it reached the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup, did not give up. Van der Vaart handled a free kick by Geremi in the area. Eto’o scored on the penalty kick.

Late in the game, Cameroon defender Rigobert Song made a cameo appearance in his fourth World Cup.

Japan vs Cameroon in World Cup 2010

World Cup 2010 Japan vs. Cameroon with Japan in prospective. Japan just happened to be one of the toughest team in the Asian football region, Japan, who won three of the last five championships of the AFC Asian Cup, have very high expectation for winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. This will be their fourth appearance at the global competition.

First on the list is an upgrade on the unsatisfactory performance at Germany 2006, when the Samurai Blue won 3-1 in their first hurdle and a reverse happened versus Australia, Croatia got a draw 0-0 and a loss with Brazil 4-1. Japan will face their first finals without Hidetoshi Nakata their iconic midfielder. The former Roma featured in each of the national games at France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 before deciding to leave the game and retire, hang up his boots after the event at age 29.

Going to the road leading to South Africa, after comfortably reaching the final round of the Asian Zone qualifying for South Africa 2010, Japan got four, drew three and lost just one on their eight matches on Group 1. A 2-1 turn around in Australia and a heart breaking draw 0-0 at home versus the same teams were the draw back of the final phase, in spite of the fact that coach Takeshi Okada’s team was able to finish well clear of Qatar, Bahrain, and Uzbekistan in the five-team section.

The Japan star players are Shunsuke Nakamura a former Celtic playmaker, who in the summer 2009 made the swap from Glasgow to La Liga with Espanyol. Another European-based performer is Keisuke Honda young midfielder at Eredivisie outfit VVV Venlo and similar to Nakamura a gifted left-footer. Their leading from the back is Captain Yuji Nakazawa a 31-year-old defensive rock and who has over 90 senior caps to his credit is Japan’s entire time third-most capped player.

Their coach is National supremo Okada. He is far and wide taken into account to be one of the finest Japanese strategists of all time. He was at the driver seat during the Samurai Blue’s first appearance in FIFA World Cup at France 1998; he was able to successfully negotiate a complicated play-off meeting with Iran, and after that enjoyed spells at club level with Yokohama F Marinos and Consadole Sapporo.

The 53-year-old past international defender’s stint in Sapporo included stepping up the team from the second division into top flight. And the tactician led Marinos to successive J.League titles in 2003 and 2004. Having stepped away from his role in Yokohama in 2006, he took the load over the reins of the national team for a second time after a year when a stroke was suffered by Ivica Osim previous incumbent. Don’t fail to watch the World Cup 2010 Japan vs. Cameroon match.