The Dutch have good reason to give Japan plenty of respect before their Group E match on Saturday and not just because of the Blue Samurai's surprise victory over Cameroon in their World Cup opener.

Senior Cameroon players have asked coach Paul Le Guen to reconsider his team selection for their second World Cup match against Denmark because he has included too many youngsters.

The trend has become so synonymous with the World Cup that an edition sans an upset result does lose some of its lustre.

Too many egos! too many individualities! It is not only true for France, but most 'great' teams with 'great players'. Zizou believes that 'the collective spirit must be displayed by the team'. He rightly said: 'A World Cup is very short; many will never play again, forget your ego and work together for the team'.

It was a belated birthday celebration for Japan's makeshift striker Keisuke Honda, who helped Japan beat Cameroon 1-0 on Monday.

Images from Monday's football World Cup match between Japan and Cameroon.

Keisuke Honda carried Japan to their first World Cup finals victory on foreign soil when he scored the goal which beat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group E match on Monday.

Forget famous goal celebrations such as 'The Robot' by Peter Crouch and 'The Dive' by Juergen Klinsmann, here comes the South African 'Diski dance'.

Cameroon's Indomitable Lions look set to feast on struggling Japan when they meet in their opening World Cup match on Monday.

Take the rediff quiz on the FIFA World Cup and find out how good your football acumen is.

Diego Maradona, scorer of the infamous Hand of God goal in the finals of 1986, made a strong plea for fair play on the opening day of the World Cup on Friday. 'Let there really be fair play, let the referees understand what the words fair play mean,' Argentina's coach, targeting fouling, told a news conference.

A look at the coaches in charge of the teams at the FIFA World Cup, starting in South Africa, on Friday.

South Africa and Mexico are likely to go on the attack in the opening game of the World Cup on Friday, hopefully ending a run of cagey and often dour starts to the finals. Against a backdrop of fevered enthusiasm and the deafening noise of vuvuzelas at Johannesburg's cavernous Soccer City, an entertaining tone for the tournament is likely to be set by two teams who are much better going forward than defending.

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk will keep Arjen Robben in his World Cup squad after the winger's hamstring injury proved less serious than first thought following a scan Sunday.

Mexico proved too sharp for World Cup holders Italy by beating them 2-1 in a warm-up match on Thursday for this month's tournament in South Africa.

Cameroon named uncapped Gaetan Bong and Eric Choupo-Moting in their 23-man World Cup squad on Saturday, even though the pair have yet to receive FIFA approval to play for the Indomitable Lions.

Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o threatened to stay away from the World Cup, while Diego Maradona, another man who has endured a turbulent relationship with his national side, got a lively send-off as Argentina left for South Africa.

The deadly plane crash at Mangalore on Saturday, which has left 158 persons dead, is one of the biggest in Indian aviation history. Prior to this, the worst airline crash witnessed in Karnataka was on February 14, 1990, in Bangalore, in which 89 persons were killed. However, there were 50 survivors in that crash.

The fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, from June 11 to July 11.

The fixtures of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, from June 11 to July 11.

India are faced with a selection dilemma on whether to strengthen their pace attack or rely on part time spinners when they brace up for the crucial Super Eights match against Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup in Bridgetown.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's hopes of a dramatic return to the international fold at the World Cup look slimmer after the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker was left out of a Dutch training squad named on Monday. Coach Bert van Marwijk, who names his provisional squad on May 11, omitted Van Nistelrooy from a 26-man training camp assembling next Monday.

Two penalties by captain Ryan Giggs led Manchester United to a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur that took them two points clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League despite being without Wayne Rooney on Saturday.

Bayern Munich's talismanic playmaker Franck Ribery is fit to start in the Champions League semi-final against Olympique Lyon on Wednesday after skipping training because of muscular problems.

Inter Milan kept alive their dreams of landing a treble after they stormed into the Italian Cup final with a 2-0 aggregate win over Fiorentina on Tuesday. Samuel Eto'o fired home a second half goal to give Inter a 1-0 second leg win at Fiorentina to make sure they stayed in the hunt for the Cup, Serie A and Champions League trophies.

Uruguay's 2010 World Cup coach Oscar Washington Tabarez is adamant his team, representing a small country of 3.5 million people, would not dwell on that past when they head to South Africa for the June 11-July 11 finals.

Surprise package Real Mallorca stayed in the hunt for a spot in next season's Champions League when they won 3-2 at home to Valencia on Sunday to draw level on 51 points with fourth-placed Sevilla.

Serie A top spot is AS Roma's for the taking this weekend after leaders Inter Milan were held to an exciting 2-2 draw at Fiorentina on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho enjoyed a triumphant return to Stamford Bridge with Inter Milan who secured a 1-0 win at his former side Chelsea on Tuesday that sent the Italians into the Champions League quarter-finals.

Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year on Thursday, beating Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Ghana's Michael Essien for the 2009 award.

Serie A leaders Inter Milan failed to capitalise on the draw between closest rivals AC Milan and AS Roma when they were held 0-0 by Genoa at the San Siro on Sunday.

World Cup title hopefuls Spain, England and Argentina seized morale-boosting victories in warm-up matches on Wednesday.

Alexandre Pato fired home in injury time to give AC Milan a lucky 2-1 win at Fiorentina on Wednesday to send the Rossoneri up to second in Serie A.

Inter Milan had both centre backs sent off in the first half but the ultra-tough Serie A leaders still battled to a 0-0 home draw with Sampdoria on Saturday.

A spectacular goal by Jean Makoun gave Olympique Lyon a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday, handing the Spaniards their first away defeat in this season's competition. Lyon picked up their third successive home win over Real in the Champions League after the Cameroon midfielder drove a stunning 25-metre shot into the top corner of the net in the 47th minute.

Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan scored three times, including a first-half own goal, as the holders overcame Cameroon 3-1 after extra-time on Monday to advance to the African Nations Cup semi-finals.

Zambia and Cameroon advanced to the African Nations Cup quarter-finals by the slimmest margin on Thursday after Group D ended in a dramatic three-way tie.

Nigeria thrashed Mozambique 3-0 to join champions Egypt in the knockout phase of the African Nations Cup from Group C on Wednesday.

Cameroon, finalists in 2008, came back from the brink of elimination to scrape past Zambia 3-2 and revive their African Nations Cup campaign on Sunday.

Egypt continued their quest for an unprecedented third straight African Nations Cup when they reached the quarter-finals on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Mozambique as Nigeria revived their hopes of progressing. The win left six times champions Egypt top of Group C with six points from two games as second-placed Nigeria looked set to join them into the last eight after scraping past Benin 1-0.