Aboubakar proves a point
Arriving on the hour mark with his side 3-1 down, striker Vincent Aboubakar completely changed this game. Cameroon’s famously confident talisman and captain for so long, the Al Nassr forward was surprisingly dropped for this tournament by new coach Rigobert Song who preferred to swap a reliable goal threat for a more fluid front three. However, the 30-year-old was desperate to prove a point and dinked a brilliant second seconds after coming on before beating the offside trap to race away and square for Choupo-Moting to make it 3-3. Aboubakar will be confident he’s played his way back into the team for the final game with Brazil, to provide the cutting edge Song’s team has badly lacked otherwise.
André Onana exile affects Cameroon
Despite wild celebrations for Castelletto’s opener, which involved most of the bench and resulted in the booking of at least one substitute, having seen their goalkeeper (and arguably star player) removed from the squad following a disagreement with coach Song, supposedly due to his less-than-traditional style, Cameroon’s players seemed noticeably unsettled. In truth, their lethargic display should have seen Serbia three or four goals clear by halftime. Miraculously, Aboubakar completely changed the game but Song now has to deal with his group’s mental state before the final group game.
Serbia impress despite the score
A 3-3 draw with a Cameroon in turmoil after the departure of their goalkeeper and key player, André Onana, suggests that a much fancied Serbia underwhelmed here. In truth they proved to be a fluid, dynamic attacking team for the first hour and created enough openings to have taken a four or five-goal lead into half-time. An inspired Vincent Aboubakar’s virtuoso cameo to rescue a point for Cameroon would have been tricky for any team to handle, such was his desperation to prove a point and his proven quality as a goal scorer for Cameroon. There are far worse teams with more points than Serbia’s sole point so far in Qatar and they should be confident before their final group game with the Swiss.
GWFN
