Cameroon's disastrous 2010 FIFA World Cup ended on Thursday with a third successive defeat, this time at the hands of Group E winners Netherlands at the Cape Town Stadium.
The Indomitable Lions lost 2-1, but put in a brave performance against one of the favourites for the championship, and we may have seen the end of an era with the international futures of Geremi, Rigobert Song and possibly even Samuel Eto'o in doubt.
The Netherlands finish top of the pool and will now play Slovakia in the Last 16 in Durban on Monday, by which time the Cameroon players will be back home.
The game in Cape Town was an open and even contest and to be fair could have gone either way.
Robin van Persie might have given his side the lead on 20 minutes when he found himself one-on-one with Souleymanou Hamidou in the Indomitable Lions' goal, but the big stopper did well to block the shot.
However, the Dutch were ahead on 36 minutes after good interplay between Dirk Kuyt, Rafael van der Vaart and Van Persie, with the latter slotting the ball past Hamidou.
Jean Makoun and Gaetan Bong had chances for Cameroon before the break, but both failed to steer their efforts on target.
Cameroon started the second half the brighter and Makoun had a golden chance to bring his side level after being played in by substitute Vincent Aboubacar, but Maarten Stekelenburg saved.
Three minutes later coach Paul Le Guen's side were level when Eto'o equalised from the spot. Geremi's free kick struck the arm of Van der Vaart in the box and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty.
Van der Vaart left the scene to be replaced by Arjen Robben, with the Dutch star man making his debut in the competition after recovering from a hamstring injury. His appearance is a massive boost to Bert van Marwijk's side, and he showed why by playing his part in the winner, scored with nine minutes left.
Wesley Sneijder played the pass of the tournament to get Robben behind the defence, but could not take it in his stride at first. He still managed to get his shot away and it cannoned back off the post before falling for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to score.
The Dutch had a late shout for a penalty turned down as Huntelaar went down in the box, but in the end it was a comfortable enough win for them and mission accomplished for Van Marwijk.
