Samuel Eto'o chose not to throw in the towel and had the chance to make Roger Milla eat his words.

The first half-hour was rather disappointing, as neither team did anything more than retreat after being caught offside.

Japan might have been happy with a point here, but Cameroon really should have been doing something about trying to win the match.

Then in a goalmouth confusion, six minutes before half-time, Keisuke Honda was left standing alone when the ball came over from the right; courtesy of Daisuke Matsui. The CSKA Moscow player stayed cool under pressure, to relieve us all of our boredom.

Half-time: 1:0

The first corner of the match came at the start of the second-half. That says everything about the first.

Samuel Eto'o looked more like he wanted win (for a second, or two), as he shook off three Japanese players on his way into the penalty area early in the second-half.

Cameroon made a double substitution, with 15 minutes left, but Eto'o was still left on the right instead of playing through the middle; while Japan started to show the more desire to hold on to their win.

With five minutes left to play, Cameroon's Stéphane M'Bia cracked a shot against the corner of the crossbar. Then at the other end, Keisuke Honda almost forced Souleymanou into a mistake.

Although Samuel Eto'o tried something of a back-heeled, scissor-kick, Roger Milla may be proved right; if the Cameroon can't win their next two games. And against Holland and Denmark - on this showing - that's not going to be easy.

Japan 1 Cameroon 0