The Indomitable Lions failed to register a point in the competition for the first time in their six appearances at the finals.

They were beaten in all three matches in Group E - by Japan, Denmark and Holland - despite coming into the tournament as one of Africa's biggest hopes.

But Eto'o said: "We're all disappointed, we went to South Africa with high hopes of having a good World Cup, but it was not possible.

"We cannot go back now. We must look to the future. And the future comes quickly because we already play in September.

"We must reorganise this and try and come back strongly."

The future the Inter Milan striker was referring to is the start of the African Nations Cup qualifying campaign for 2012.

The west Africans, who are pooled in Group E for that campaign alongside Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius, will be without World Cup coach Paul Le Guen.

The Frenchman left his post after their exit but Eto'o refused to blame him for their woes in South Africa.

He continued: "We are all responsible. It would be easy to say that it is the fault of the coach.

"I think the players are equally responsible as the coach. We are all in the same boat and it is important not to look for a scapegoat.

"But Paul Le Guen did what he could and it is not his fault."

Eto'o, who scored both of his country's goals in losing causes against the Danes and the Dutch, also asked the people of Cameroon not to be disheartened.

"The most important thing now is to tell the people of Cameroon, thank you for their support," he added. "Yes, we're disappointed not to meet their expectations, but in football this is sometimes the case.

"The most important thing now is to reorganise, have a strong plan going forward and do something good.

"It was not all bad, we still had the chance to discover some young players and we can say that in three months we have the qualifiers for the Africa Cup.

"So hopefully we can restore some pride then."