The Indomitable Lions are no doubt the continent's leading side in terms of World Cup pedigree having qualified for five previous competitions.

They were the first and so far only African country to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament, achieving the feat famously in 1990 thanks largely to the exploits of Roger Milla.

But the team have been on a downward slide ever since their last appearance in the finals at Korea/Japan in 2002. They missed out in Germany four years ago and neither have they added to their four African Nations Cup crowns since the last one in 2002.

An ageing team and, as with most countries on the continent, poor leadership and ill-discipline, are just some of the reasons behind their decline.

The country, though, is not short of young talent and in Alex Song and Joel Matip they have some of the finest young players around.

Add these to the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Pierre Webo, Carlos Kameni and Jean Makoun and there is no doubt that the recipe for success is there.

However, the problem is gelling them together and even before they secured their place at this summer's tournament, there were many question marks as to whether they will actually get to South Africa.

A poor start to their qualifying campaign saw them suffer a shock loss to Togo, followed by a tame home draw against Morocco - a result that eventually led to the sacking of German coach Otto Pfister.

"At the beginning a number of things were not right in the team," Mallorca striker Webo told www.fifa.com.

"Confidence was low and we realised we had become lackadaisical.

"We knew that we needed to work harder and really strive to win every single game. We could no longer just expect to turn up and win."

Enter the scene Paul Le Guen - the French coach whose reputation had been badly tarnished following unsuccessful spells with Paris St Germain and Rangers.

The 45-year-old made the most of his big chance, masterminding four successive wins - including two against group leaders Gabon inside five days - to help the west Africans qualify.

It was a remarkable turnaround, one that was well noted by many of their established players.

"He (Le Guen) has united us at the most difficult times, when we had to win games," said captain and Inter Milan star, Eto'o, who is one of the best forwards in the world game.

"He is a great psychologist and a coach with modern ideas of play."

Webo added: "Le Guen is a very professional coach and very knowledgeable when it comes to modern football.

"He knows the players well and has encouraged some of those on the fringes to become more involved and establish themselves within the group."

Following their qualifying exploits, expectations were high heading into the African Nations Cup in Angola earlier this year, but they again disappointed.

After being stunned 1-0 by the Gabonese in the opening game, they managed to scrape through to the quarter-finals courtesy of a draw with Tunisia and win over Zambia.

A major problem for them was in defence where a host of errors were made, especially from senior players Rigobert Song, Geremi and Kameni.

They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Egypt, drawing more criticism from back home, but Le Guen remained defiant.

The former France international defender, who was rewarded with a new seven-month deal in November after guiding the team to the World Cup, said: "Geremi and Rigobert are still in the race for the World Cup. They are experienced players and have not been excluded from the national team."

Looking ahead to their trip to South Africa, where Cameroon are pooled alongside Japan, Denmark and Holland in Group E, he added: "All the players I select will be key.

"I don't want to make wholesale changes (to the team that played at AFCON), maybe just alter the team dynamic somewhat, perhaps have one or two surprise packages for the World Cup.

"My goal now is to improve things in a positive way for the World Cup. I am full of spirit, confident and I think I'm going to be working with a strong team."