Lions will be ready to roar, warns David Luiz

BRAZIL will be facing a side with nothing to lose when they take on Cameroon in their final match of Group A, David Luiz has warned.

The defender believes the World Cup hosts have a fight on their hands and can take nothing for granted if they want to make progress in the competition.

A 3-1 opening win over Croatia and a 0-0 draw with Mexico means that Brazil can qualify for the knockout stages should they avoid defeat against the Africans in Brasilia.

Cameroon have lost both of their matches so far in Group A and Luiz believes they will be fighting for pride when they take to the pitch in the Estadio Nacional. The match will be Brazil’s 100th in World Cup history as they become just the second side to reach that milestone after Germany.

And it will be the fifth time the two sides have met with Brazil having the edge historically with three wins — but Luiz is taking nothing for granted.

“We will be facing a team that comes without any responsibility,” he said.

“Their players will want to show that they can do better than they did in the first two matches.

“A victory against the hosts would be like a title to them. Cameroon will be playing for pride.

“Their players are still representing their nation and they will want to leave the World Cup by beating the hosts.

“We know that we will be facing a team that still wants to play well.

“You see the previous world champions being eliminated at the group stage and teams that were not considered very strong have good tactics and a solid squad, so they make every game very hard.”

Cameroon come into the match on the back of a 4-0 thumping by Croatia which was marred by Alex Song’s red card and Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s butt on team-mate Benjamin Moukandjo.

The Indomitable Lions won the last encounter between the two sides when Samuel Eto’o scored the winner in a 1-0 Confederations Cup victory in 2003.

And Cameroon coach Volker Finke has urged his players to put in a similar performance against the hosts this time around to earn their World Cup redemption.

“The third game is special, in some ways,” he said.

“It is impossible to leave the World Cup with everyone having the impression that the level of Cameroon is what we showed against Mexico and Croatia. This is our motivation to prove that we can do more. Like all teams we also dreamed of a good World Cup.

“We were unable to qualify, but we will try to have a good farewell.”