Cameroon coach seeks pre-World Cup lift at Austria camp

(Reuters) - Cameroon coach Volker Finke's priority will be working on lifting morale among his squad when they start their pre-World Cup preparations at an Austrian training camp next week after a deflating loss in their last outing.

"I have specific objectives for the camp," the German said in a lengthy interview in the Cameroon Tribune. "To work on the spirit of the team and to find a cohesive unit, where they all give to each other and the team."

Cameroon were beaten 5-1 by Portugal in a friendly in March, the defeat damaging team confidence after the excitement of securing World Cup qualification late last year.

"I support everyone, I encourage individuals but it must be to serve the collective. You can be individualistic but not egocentric," Finke said in a reference to the reported split in the camp at the 2010 World Cup, where Cameroon lost all three matches.

"We'll be together for two weeks. This is very important because we have time to work," Finke added of the camp in Kufstein, which starts on Tuesday.

The Indomitable Lions will play Macedonia and Paraguay in friendlies in Kufstein on May 26 and May 29, and then go on to meet Germany in Moenchengladbach on June 1.

Finke said he was ready to change the approach of the team depending on what he observed during the camp and three warm-up games.

Cameroon, who will be appearing at the World Cup for an African record seventh time, have been drawn in Group A against hosts Brazil, Croatia and open their campaign against Mexico in Natal on June 13.

"Against Mexico, it is clear that we want to win, so we have to master a way to be very offensive against them without allowing them the opportunity to play us on the counter attack. We must know how to control the pace of the game," he added.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by John O'Brien)