WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Brazil Moving Forward : Group B: Cameroon is uncharacteristically defensive, and it doesn’t pay off in 3-0 setback.
As France’s coach, Henri Michel masterminded two monumental victories over Brazil, one in the championship game of the 1984 Summer Olympics and the other in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup.
If he had been able to do as much for Cameroon on Friday before 83,401 at Stanford Stadium, he no doubt would be considered a rival to the United States’ Bora Milutinovic for most-valuable-coach honors in the 1994 World Cup.
But what could he do? That was the question Michel asked after the 3-0 loss, explaining that it is his job to coach, and it is the players’ job to play, and, if they do not play as he coaches them, it is hardly his fault.
“We didn’t intend to play that way, but we did,” he said of his team’s uncharacteristic conservatism. “Out of fear, we pulled back.”
Some of Cameroon’s players objected to his analysis, claiming that he had instructed them to observe safety first, which, as everyone who has seen them play in the last two World Cups knows, is a crime against the Indomitable Lions’ nature.
But what could they do? If anyone knows how to beat Brazil, they said, it is Michel.
Perhaps no one can beat the Brazilians in this World Cup. They have won their first two games, given their fans reason to samba with stylish plays featuring the exquisite Romario and Bebeto, allowed their coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, to sleep at night by not giving up a goal, and made the experts who predicted they would win the tournament look like, well, experts.
So if there was confusion among the Lions about how to engage Brazil, it is no wonder, because they have spent so much of their time since arriving in the United States concentrating on matters having nothing to do with soccer.
In the latest episode, Cameroon’s soccer federation officials told Michel before the game to bench outspoken goalkeeper Joseph-Antoine Bell. But Michel, who has been with the team only since April, left the decision up to the players. When they backed Bell, he sent the 40-year-old goalkeeper onto the field.
It was Bell who had revealed Wednesday that he and his teammates were considering a strike if they were not paid as they had been promised by the federation. They decided against that, but a cynic might suggest that, based on their tactics against Brazil, they were trying to prevent either team from playing.
That sort of negative approach was expected from Russia, which finally broke down in a 2-0 loss to Brazil here Monday, but not from Cameroon, which was so marvelous to watch in 1990 that international soccer federation officials invented an award to give to the most entertaining team in the World Cup.
The Lions looked like a contender in a 2-2 tie Sunday against Sweden, but not Friday. Cameroon shadowed Romario with defender Raymond Kala, assigned two men to Bebeto, depending on which side of the field he was on, and situated so many players in the midfield it looked like the Ventura Freeway at rush hour.
When the Brazilians managed to create some space for themselves, the Lions’ reverted to their defensive tricks of 1990, committing fouls. The referee, Mexico’s Arturo Brizio Carter, called 16 of them against the Lions, which they speculated later was the result of an international conspiracy against them.
“The referee was a zero,” Cameroon defender Stephen Tataw said.
With an overwhelmingly pro-Brazil crowd cheering them on, the favorites finally began to find a path through--or over--the Cameroon midfield with long passes for the quick Bebeto and Romario to chase.
In the 39th minute, one of them off the foot of midfielder Dunga found Romario behind two defenders. One on one, Bell had no chance.
Parreira found more room for his forwards in the second half by separating them, sending Bebeto to the right flank. On one of his runs down that sideline in the 62nd minute, he was driven out of bounds by an unnecessarily hard, studs-up tackle by Rigobert Song Bahanag, who was banished from the game with a red card.
Rattled to find themselves playing one man short, the Lions went down, 2-0, one minute later when Jorginho’s pass into the box connected with Marcio Santos, who headed the ball past Bell. Brazil added another goal in the 72nd minute, when Bell saved a shot by Romario but failed to smother the ball, allowing Bebeto to put it past him.
As for Cameroon’s threats, there were none. Michel added some spice to the attack with the insertion in the 65th minute of forward Roger Milla, who, at 42, became the oldest player in World Cup history.
But the Lions’ goal-scoring star of 1990 had little opportunity in this game, managing only two meek shots that Brazil goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel fielded easily.
