World Cup failure will make Cameroon stronger, says Enoh

Cameroon midfielder Eyong Enoh is confident that the Indomitable Lions' disappointing World Cup campaign will make them stronger in the long term.

Their tournament was marred by a bonus row before the start, while Alex Song's red card against Croatia and Benoit Assou-Ekotto headbutting Ben Moukandjo in that same game led to more negative publicity.

Volker Finke's men were beaten in all three games against Mexico, Croatia and Brazil, going home with zero points, yet Enoh is optimistic about the team's future.

"I think it has been a disappointing World Cup for Cameroon," Enoh told Goal. "But at the same time, it’s at the difficult moments that some of the best teams get together and come to the fore.

"We have to get ourselves together and overcome this disappointment. We have to mobilise ourselves for the future."

Cameroon were beaten 4-1 by Brazil on Monday after a 2-1 score at half-time, but Enoh saw plenty of positives, irrespective of the defeat.

"We have a bit mixed feelings after this game," he said. "Part of me is satisfied because we wanted to make life difficult for Brazil and succeeded in doing that. We were already out of the tournament, but we really wanted to put up a good fight and leave with our heads held high.

"But unfortunately, we conceded some sloppy goals, especially in the second half, and cannot be satisfied about that. But all in all, we got a positive feeling from this game and this will help us for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers."

Enoh escaped a yellow card after a foul on Neymar in the second half and the former Ajax man acknowledged that the Barcelona attacker caused Cameroon a lot of trouble.

"The referee could have given me another yellow card for the foul on Neymar. But it’s part of the game that you make fouls. We didn’t just come here to watch Brazil play, but we wanted to be aggressive.

"We kept things tight in midfield and Neymar didn’t see much space there. That made things easier for us in midfield.

"But in defence, it was very difficult with his runs and the long balls over our defence. He is a quality player, there’s no denying it. But all of Brazil are great. We have to give them credit for their win."Benoit Assou-Ekotto headbutting Ben Moukandjo