MANAUS, June 19 — Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o failed to make the starting line-up for his side’s World Cup clash against Croatia in Manaus today having failed to recover sufficiently from a knee injury.

Having initially claimed he needed a ‘miracle’ to play, the 33-year-old forward had played a game of cat-and-mouse with the media in the match build up by ruling himself out, then hinting he might be involved.

In his place, Besiktas Dany Nkoulou captains Cameroon.

Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic returned to the Croatia line-up having missed their opening defeat to hosts Brazil as he served a suspension for a red card he received against Iceland in the World Cup finals play-off back in November.

Cameroon need to bounce back in tropical Manaus after their opening 1-0 defeat to Mexico.

Teams

Cameroon

Charles Itandje, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Dany Nkoulou (capt), Alexandre Song, Benjamin Moukandjo, Vincent Aboubakar, Eric Choupo- Moting, Aurelien Chedjou, Stephane Mbia, Enoh Eyong, Joel Matip

Coach: Trainer: Volker Finke (GER)

Croatia

Stipe Pletikosa, Danijel Pranjic, Ivan Perisic, Vedran Corluka, Dedjan Lovren, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric, Darijo Srna (capt), Mario Mandzukic, Ivica Olic, Sammir

Coach: Niko Kovac (CRO)

Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR). — AFP