"It's good to aim high, but it's not good to rush things," Mboma said at a press conference in Tokyo. "Japan hasn't even made the last eight in World Cup history, so trying to reach that stage is realistic."

Mboma, who played in the J-League for five seasons and also had a spell at Italian side Parma during his illustrious career, is visiting Japan to make a TV appearance.

His country face Japan in their World Cup opener on June 14. Cameroon and Japan have also been drawn against the Netherlands and Denmark in Group E.

"It would be nice if both Cameroon and Japan could advance to the quarterfinals, but that might be very, very difficult," Mboma said.

In their three World Cup finals appearances, Japan have advanced as far as the round of 16, in the 2002 meet they co-hosted with South Korea.

They were knocked out in the group stage in the other two finals.