Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o continued to have a rocky road to the 2010 World Cup finals after having an early shower in his side’s 3-1 defeat to Portugal. The Inter Milan player was shown the red card in the first half after earning two quick yellows and it was game over as the Cameroonians could not recover from a player and one goal down.

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz would have been pleased with his side’s efforts after being held to a humiliating 0-0 draw by Cape Verde Islands last week. However, the win would be tempered by an ineffectual display from their African opponents who are a pale shadow of the famous Roger Milla-led side that thrilled football fans in past World Cup finals.

Raul Meireles starred for the Portuguese with Manchester United winger Nani scoring the third goal late in the game to seal the win. Cameroon briefly threatened a comeback with Pierre Webo’s goal in the 69th minute but it was too little too late.

Portugal went into the lead in the first half on 32 minutes after Meireles finished off some fine work from a Simao Sabrosa cross. The Atletico Madrid winger is said to be a target for Liverpool after another fine season in Europe.

Meireles scored his second goal soon after the restart as he squeezed a shot in from a narrow angle. Portugal then started to take their foot off the pedal and allowed Cameroon to come back into the game despite having had Eto’o receive his marching orders in the first half.

Webó headed in Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s cross to set up a potential comeback by coach Paul Le Guen’s side. But the goal only proved to wake Portugal from their slumber with Cristiano Ronaldo finally making an impact with a cross that former United team mate Nani turned into the net.

Tags: Cameroon, Match Highlights, Match Review, Portugal, World Cup, World Cup 2010