24.06.2014 01:56 h

Finke evades quit talk as Cameroon bow out

Cameroon coach Volker Finke brushed off questions about his future as the Indomitable Lions bowed out of the World Cup on Monday.

"I have my contract and am doing my job. Those are the essential things," said the 66-year-old German after Cameroon's 4-1 drubbing by Brazil.

Finke has a year remaining on his contract and indicated that he will now focus on leading Cameroon into the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) tournament in Morocco.

"Cameroon have missed the last two CANs. We qualified for the World Cup and now we are disappointed because we were unable to win a match. It doesn't feel good but now we need to focus on the Cup of Nations," he insisted.

Cameroon bow out having lost all three games against Mexico, Croatia and the hosts, scoring just one goal and conceding nine in the process.

They have now failed to get out of their group at five finals appearances since their famous run to the quarter-finals in Italy in 1990.

Their campaign was overshadowed from the beginning by a row over bonuses that saw the squad arrive late in Brazil.

During the tournament they saw captain Samuel Eto'o succumb to a knee injury and Benoit Assou-Ekotto head-butted team-mate Benjamin Moukandjo in an on-pitch clash at the end of their 4-0 defeat to Croatia in Manaus.

Of his team's performance at the tournament, Finke said: "Too often we lost concentration all too easily.

"After a match we can't explain things in depth but I think today (Monday) we were really not that bad in the first half.

"We conceded two soft goals but it is clear that Brazil deserved the win because they created the majority of the chances.

"It was much the same against Croatia, where we were respectable in the first half, and we need to concentrate for 90 minutes.

"We can't say this was our best game. Some things were not bad but the reality is that it was not enough in a competition like this."