Day Two, and it's another of those games in which each side sees victory as essential if progress to the second is to remain a realistic possibility. Only one result would do for the romantics, though. Since 1990 and the quarter-final clash with England it's always been a case of "Come On The Cameroon!", even if the team let everybody down badly four years ago.
This team is capable of going either way. In most areas of the pitch there is the talent to carry the side into the knockout stages again, but up front there are problems, not least if Claude Le Roy opts to play their top scorer from the qualifiers, Mboma, in a defensive midfield role. Such caution has not generally paid dividends for the Africans in the past and it's unlikely to start now.
His side, insisted Le Roy yesterday, will not be negative. "They (his players) are extremely creative and we will play an offensive game," he said, although he must find the fact that he will have to rely on one of his older hands, Omam Biyik, to find the net at least slightly alarming.
The Austrians, meanwhile, had been expected to play with just one striker in this game, but after their final training session, manager Herbert Prohaska made it clear that their own lack of bite in attack had forced him to provide captain Polster with attacking support, almost certainly in the form of Herzog who was kept on to work on setpieces at the end of the session.
"I need them both," conceded Prohaska afterwards, "and they have shown their worth to the team every time we have been on the training field."
Like the rest of the team the striking partnership will certainly give the Austrians plenty of experience but with 11 players out of 22 the wrong side of 30 they may just about have too much of that, even against a very youthful African team.
Cameroon: Songo'o; Song, Kalla, Njanka; Wome, Olembe, Mboma, Simo, Ndo; Ipoua, Omam Biyik.
Austria: Konsel; Feiersinger; Schoettel, Pfeffer; Cerny, Kuehbauer, Maehlich, Pfeifenberger, Wetl; Herzog, Polster. Referee: E Gonzalez Chavez (Paraguay).
Key Player Rigobert Song (Cameroon)
Age: 22. Club: Metz (France). Caps: 27. Goals: 1.
Strengths:
Speed, strength and a great sense of positioning have marked Song out as a star of the future, one who could make a big name for himself internationally over the next few weeks.
Looks laid back but the 22 year-old is a fine tackler who can impose himself on far more experienced stars. Has played with Metz since US '94 and has played a central part in helping his side into next season's Champions' League.
Has captained the national team recently and is certain to be handed a great deal of responsibility by manager Claude Le Roy. Having acquired maturity well beyond his years, he should thrive on it.
Weaknesses:
Not too many to speak off in terms of his on-the- pitch displays, although he does have an occasional tendency to let his head go down when things aren't going so well.
Cameroon's disastrous finals campaign in America still plays heavily on his mind and Song has said that his own ambition this time around is to help mend the team's reputation. Still, he's come a long way since '94 when he had a reputation for taking defeats so badly that team- mates often had to comfort him after poor results.
