FIFA World Cup: Embolo goal helps Switzerland beat Cameroon in Group G opener

Even the presence of the original lion, Maradona’s adversary Roger Milla, in the fans couldn’t melt this Swiss structure at the Al Janoub Stadium since this Cameroon is not the unstoppable lions of 1990.

There was no thundering thunder of Mufasa’s or Simba’s youthful terror, and Rigobert Song’s team played with the toothless grin of a child or an old man.

These dual-passport journeymen were carefully selected by Samuel Eto’o, the head of the Cameroon FA, and they first had a savage snarl but quickly became tamed.

Breel Embolo, a player for Switzerland, upset his native country by scoring the single goal in this 1-0 victory for his team. He was the one person Eto’o was unable to persuade.

As soon as play resumed in the second half, Switzerland scored with its first effort on goal. Captain Granit Xhaka switched the ball from the right to the left to Xherdan Shaqiri with a quick touch from Remo Freuler in the center.

Embolo, who prior to the competition referred to himself as the “No. 1 of Cameroon,” quietly kicked in the goal, and there was no celebration to follow out of respect for the forebears. The Alpine Messi’s cut back inside the box saw no rush from the defense.

In the 56th minute, a furious Eric Choupo-Moting embarked on a lone mission and danced past a few defenders, but the final angle was far too small to trouble Yaan Sommer or alter the course of the game.

In the 68th minute, Ruben Vargas nearly gave Switzerland a second goal when he was given room to unleash a fizzing right footer from within the area, forcing goalkeeper Andre Onana to make an uncomfortable save.

The goalkeeper, however, did well to stop one of Xhaka’s thundering attempts as time ticked down to the last seconds, and the sluggish defense managed to block another rasping left-footer from Haris Seferovic.