Cameroon Confident Entering Second Match With Australia
Cameroon and Australia will meet in St. Petersburg on Thursday night with their respective Confederations Cup hopes hanging in the balance. While most people are initially thinking that Cameroon’s pace will be too much for Australia to handle, team captain Milos Degenek is not worried about Cameroon, and is confident they can combat whatever is thrown their way.
Camerron may have gone down 2-0 to South American Champions Chile, but their coach, Hugo Broos, is not letting that discourage neither him nor his squad. In speaking to reporters, Broos commented on his side’s first match performance by saying that he was “disappointed with the result but satisfied with the performance.” A nervy Cameroonian squad came out of the gates in timid fashion, but were able to hold the Chileans for a large majority of the match. It wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Arturo Vidal cut open the defense and netted the match’s opening goal. 8 minutes later, and just before the final whistle blew, Chile tacked on another goal that made the scoreline seem a lot more one-sided than the match really was.
Team Matchups—Counterattack vs. Controlled Possession
Before going any further, it is important to note that both teams are well aware of the magnitude of this match. With a loss, they will be effectively ousted from the 2017 Confederations Cup with 1 match still to play. What’s more, this will be the first time these 2 sides have ever met in international competition, making this an especially interesting match to watch.
What we know from looking at the team sheets is that Cameroon like to play fast-paced football. Whether it is during traditional attacks, or breaking out on a counter, the Indomitable Lions hinge their style of play on their speed. While this has worked out for them more often than it has not, Australia will be a tough team to break down via speed alone. As we saw from their opening match against Germany, Australia are fully capable of playing controlled, organized football. After all, you don’t net 2 goals against the defending World Cup Champions by luck alone.
Something else Australia (+195) has is experience. Though their players may not be playing in the world’s top leagues, they are playing higher-level football than a good majority of the Cameroonian squad. In matches like this one, that can make a world of difference. Names like Tomas Rogic and Milos Degenek possess the higher level experience needed in a competition such as this.
Cameroon (+135), on the other hand, may not have a load of top-level experience, but rather a team chemistry that few other squads can even come close to matching. With only one player in their lineup (Sebastien Siani) over the age of 30, Cameroon also possesses a good deal of youth. With that youthful spirit comes a lot of speed. There are serious questions as to whether Australia will be able to handle this speed, but through organization the task is made much simpler. Something else to be noted is that Cameroon will be without African Cup of Nations star Ambroise Oyongo, who was hurt in a match that preceded the Africans’ trip to Russia by just a few days. The left back was instrumental in their securing a spot in this year’s competition, and his absence was noticed in game 1.
Betting Predictions and Analysis
If we are talking about the result of the match, I think that I am going to have to give this one to Australia (+195). From a betting perspective, this wager offers a lot of value. From an analytical perspective, I simply think that Australia are a more composed, experienced side who are better-suited for a match on the global stage. Cameroon (+135) has some bright spots and do play well as a unit, but they are lacking in quality, especially in the final third. A draw (+235) is not a terrible pick, but I truly think that Australia will emerge victorious from this one. Further urging the Aussies along is a haunting record, which shows that the Socceroos have not won a Confederations Cup match stretching back to 2005 and beyond.
The over/under for this match is set at a standard 2.5 goals (EVEN/-120) on Bovada. I think that the over (EVEN) is the right pick in this one. While neither of these teams lack quality altogether, they are both prone to scoring goals as we saw in both of their respective opening matches. As far as team over/unders are concerned, Australia’s 1.5 (+160/-225) sticks out to me.
I think that the Aussies, through their experienced, clinical striker Tom Rogic, will be able to net at least 2 goals. As was stated above, Cameroon are missing a crucial piece of their defensive unit. People critical of this pick might point out that it took a highly-touted Chile team more than 80 minutes to score, but that is largely attributed to the defense-first mindset Cameroon were so clearly displaying. Looking at the Aussies as equal, worthy opponents leads me to believe that Cameroon will come out guns blazing. If this is true, I would expect them to concede a few times, at least.