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Cameroon sits at the top of Africa's Group A, having climbed from fourth (last) to first during the last break by virtue of their two wins against Gabon, who previously led the group. The Indomitable Lions lead Gabon by one point, Togo by two, with a November trip to Morocco to close-out qualifying.
Cameroon is one of three African teams (along with Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire) that could challenge for the next World Cup. All of their major contributors are gaining experience at good clubs in Europe. They have brought in manager Paul Le Guen (former of Stade Rennes, Olympique Lyonnais, Rangers, and Paris St. Germain) to guide them. They have elite talents (Samuel Eto'o) to mix with team veterans (Geremi, Carlos Kemeni, Jean Makoun) and the cast of younger, emerging players (Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Alexandre Song, Stephane Mbia, Sébastien Bassong) which will be the core of their team for Brazil. This team is capable of replicating their 1990 run to the quarterfinals, and given some look and the location of the event, Cameroon could go farther.
First, they have to make it through qualifying, with Togo being their next speed bump. Despite the presence of Emmanuel Adebayor and Moustapha Salifou, Togo does not look to put up a major challenge. With a player like Adebayor, the right tactics, and catching Cameroon on a bad day, they would get a point. That result would likely send Gabon to the World Cup. Cameroon, however, as exemplified by their steady, controlling performance in the last international break, realize their task and are unlikely to waver.
For the Togolese, even though they represented Africa in the last World Cup, this qualifying cycle is more about making it to the African Cup of Nations (top three in each group qualify) and getting experience for their young team. Ten of the players called-up for Saturday's match are 22-year-old or younger, putting them near their peak ages for the next qualifying cycle, at which time Adebayor will be 29 years old. With more of their younger players are bigger clubs in Europe (Floyd Ayité at Bordeaux, Assimiou Touré at Bayer Leverkusen, for example), they should be able to improve upon their world ranking (right now, 71; 91 one year ago) and be better prepared for the 2014 cycle.
Come 2013, Togo will look a lot like the Cameroon squad that will take the pitch Saturday in Yaoundé. Adebayor will be the seasoned striker approaching 30 (Eto'o), while the rest of the team will have established and seasoned themselves in Europe. Until then, Togo does not have the depth to expect a win at Cameroon, and although a draw is possible (Morocco, who have disappointed in this tournament, drew in Cameroon earlier in qualifying), that is not the pick.
Prediction: Cameroon, 3-0
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