Cameroon finally arrive to take on England (25.05.2002)
After a row over bonuses and a nightmare charter flight, Cameroon have finally reached their training base in Nakatsue and begun their World Cup preparations in earnest, five days behind schedule.
Winfried Schafer`s side were initially due to arrive in Japan last Sunday, but a row over bonuses held up their journey in Paris, and their planned flight out had to be cancelled.
Once the African Nations Champions finally took to the air, their journey was further complicated as they were held up in Bombay for nine hours getting permission to fly over Cambodia, Vietnam and the
Philippines.
Having finally touched down on the southern island of Kyushu on Thursday evening, after 20 hours en route, the squad had to rush to their training camp to prepare directly for the friendly with England in Kobe on Sunday.
The belated arrival took the wind out of the Japanese welcome plans, and a friendly game with a local high-school side had to be cancelled.
Cameroon, who are in group E along with Germany, Saudi Arabia and Ireland, will now be faced with an uphill struggle to acclimatise to the Japanese humidity in time for the tournament`s big kick-off.
