In the Indomitable Lions’ 3-3 tie with Serbia on Monday, Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score one goal and assist on another, salvaging a point for the African team and ending an eight-game losing streak.
While Cameroon must play Brazil in their final encounter on Friday while Serbia plays Switzerland, both teams are left with one point after two games and are still very much in the running for a spot in the round of 16.
Just before the halfway point, Jean-Charles Castelletto gave Cameroon the lead, but a quick-fire double from Strahinja Pavlovic and the incredibly spectacular Sergej Milinkovic-Savic at the end of the first period turned the game in Serbia’s favor.
In the Indomitable Lions’ 3-3 tie with Serbia on Monday, Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score one goal and assist on another, salvaging a point for the African team and ending an eight-game losing streak.
While Cameroon must play Brazil in their final encounter on Friday while Serbia plays Switzerland, both teams are left with one point after two games and are still very much in the running for a spot in the round of 16.
Just before the halfway point, Jean-Charles Castelletto gave Cameroon the lead, but a quick-fire double from Strahinja Pavlovic and the incredibly spectacular Sergej Milinkovic-Savic at the end of the first period turned the game in Serbia’s favor.
When Cameroon botched their line clearance and the ball fell to him eight yards out with the entire goal to aim at, he had another excellent opportunity, but he missed it.
Serbia unnecessarily gave up a corner, which allowed Cameroon to take the lead from a set piece. Nicolas N’Koulou’s flick was intercepted by Castelletto, who then tapped the ball in at the back post.
Serbia scored a straightforward goal in the last seconds of the first half to tie the score. In response to a free kick that Dusan Tadic floated into the area, Pavlovic sprang highest to head the ball into the net’s corner.
Two minutes later, they took the lead when Milinkovic-Savic was given time by the Cameroon defense to choose his place on the edge of the box and direct the ball into the goal.
Mitrovic began and completed a nicely constructed third for Serbia. After a series of passes inside the penalty area, the ball was squared by Andrija Zivkovic, and the bulky number nine had a simple tap-in. He drove toward the Cameroon box.
Aboubakar was instructed to leave the bench at that point. In order to tie the game and keep Cameroon in the competition, he first provided a flawless chip into the net for 3-2. He then outran the offside trap, raced clear, and whipped over a low cross for Choupo-Moting to tie the game.
