CAMEROONS DRAW A THRILLER IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP WITH SERBIA
In a remarkable turn of events, Cameroon demonstrated that their Indomitable Lions moniker does have some significance amidst their ascendency to become the most dominant Fifa World Cup team. Despite being 3-1 down, they were able to earn a 3-3 draw with Serbia in Al Wakrah on Monday, keeping their group G campaign alive and preventing them from collecting an unwanted title. Should Rigobert Song's team lose to Serbia, they will end a run similar to Mexico's between 1930 and 1958, losing their ninth consecutive World Cup finals match, with Brazil the next opponent. In a matter of minutes, substitute Vincent Aboubakar and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored in the second half after they had seemingly lost the match.
Moreover, Serbia's decision to allow them back into the game is indicative of the Eagles' character. Since Yugoslavia's 1998 campaign, this team has lost nine of its previous 11 World Cup matches. This was a game between two bad teams that made enough sloppy errors to make the whole experience enjoyable. After Andrija Zivkovic conceded a corner with a terrible pass backward 40 yards from his own goal, Cameroon opened the scoring. In the 65th minute, Nicolas Nkoulou flicked on at the near post and Jean-Charles Castelletto turned home at the back post untracked. Despite that, the work was undone in first-half stoppage time.
A free-kick from Dusan Tadic just cleared Choupo-Moting's leap, and Strahinja Pavlovic headed the ball home with a superb header. After 46 minutes of play, Serbia scored their first goal on target. They ended up being 2-1 ahead after Cameroon chased another lead and overplayed in the midfield, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic ultimately driving past Devis Epassy on a poor dive. After Milinkovic-Savic and Zivkovic had performed a magnificent passing move that set up Mitrovic for his previously profligate goal, Cameroon appeared to be doomed.
During that moment, Song threw on Aboubakar and the game changed. Suddenly, the Indomitable Lions were truly indomitable, and the 30-year-old was the driving force behind it all. A motionless captain stood motionless when his audacious lob over Vanja Milinkovic-Savic dropped over the line and into the underside of the goal net. He knew that an offside flag would be raised immediately. However, the Var determined that Aboubakar was in fact onside, and his side was once again in the game. In less than two minutes, he had regained possession, this time squaring the ball to Choupo-Moting who scored an equalizer.
This was an unexpected turn of events. It would have been easy for them to lose the game all over again if Mitrovic had been in any form. Fulham's striker missed a sitter eight yards from goal at 0-0 before wasting two other excellent chances. It was a 3-3 draw that neither team truly desired, but Cameroon nevertheless desperately needed it. Despite the fact that they are off the hook for the record of the most consecutive losses in tournament history, neither they nor Serbia appears to be round-of-16 contenders at this point.
By Rashmi Goel
