Cameroon's forward #10 Vincent Aboubakar (C) scores his team's second goal past Serbia's goalkeeper #23 Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (2nd L) . (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)
Cameroon fought back with a late double to secure a thrilling 3-3 draw against Serbia in Group G at the Al Janoub Stadium, yesterday.
Veteran Vincent Aboubakar made his magic work after coming off the bench in the second half and netted one in the 63rd minute to reduce the deficit before assisting Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in scoring the equaliser three minutes later to keep their Round of 16 hopes alive.
"In these competitions you have to show desire for victory," Aboubakar, the player of the match, said.
"My teammates played a great first half despite some small mistakes. We felt they (Serbia) were shaky and a bit tired. When I came on, I tried to make the most of it. What matters is the mindset and the collective spirit, and in that regard we played a great game," the 93-match veteran said.
Serbia controlled the ball most of the time since the kick-off and immediately brought in pace into the game. However, it was Cameroon's Jean-Charles Castelletto who gave the start that Cameroon needed.
Castelletto scored his maiden goal for Cameroon in the 28th minute – taking advantage of a corner kick. Nicolas Nkoulou headed the ball towards the goal while the Nantes centre back Castelletto tapped the ball into the net as Serbian custodian Vanja Milinković-Savić was left stunned along with his teammates.
It looked like Cameroon were heading into the breather with a 1-0 lead, but all changed within a span of just two minutes in the stoppage time.
That’s when Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic struck right before the whistle to give Serbia a 2-1 lead.
Milinkovic-Savic's left-footed effort came three minutes into added time, two minutes after Pavlovic's equaliser.
Upon return, Cameroon were handed another shock when Aleksandar Mitrovic's shot, assisted by Andrija Zivkovic, flew into to the centre of the goal from the centre of the box in the 53rd minute. It was right before the substitution which brought in Aboubakar and the rest was like a dream come true for the Cameroon coach Rigobert Song.
Cameroon fans in the stands after the match Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
After their brilliant comeback, Song praised his team's fighting spirit despite missing the services of first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana who was left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.
"He is a very important player but we are in a competition and my role is to put the team first ahead of an individual," Song said.
"He is one of the best keepers in Europe. This is not about his performances but you have to preserve the squad," Song said about Onana.
"Maybe we needed a strong signal. It's a big risk that I took. But I'm the dad of these kids so when I have to take risks and make decisions, I do that and I stand by what I do," the 46-year-old Song said.
Onana was marked as 'absent' on the team sheet prior to the game at Al Janoub stadium.
Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic looked dejected after his team let the Cameroonians level despite enjoying a comfortable lead, which eventually put them in a do-or-die situation in the final leg of the group stage.
"Of course, players should not lose their heads," Stojkovic said after the game.
"We are frustrated as we wanted the win and had the match in our hands but our silly mistakes allowed Cameroon to avoid defeat. We made two huge mistakes in the defence. At this level it is very dangerous to go high up when your opponent has the ball - these two mistakes cost us victory. It is difficult to understand and completely unnecessary," Stojkovic said ruing their mistakes.
However, the 57-year-old said he is satisfied with his players' performances.
"I am very satisfied with my players because they showed a new face compared with the first match, We created a lot of chances and dangerous situations, we hit the post and missed opportunities as well. I am very happy with how we reacted especially when we went 1-0 down."
Yesterday's draw means Serbia who have just one point from two games, will need to defeat Switzerland in their final match to have a chance of reaching the last 16.
Stojkovic said he is confident Serbia can still progress.
"In the dressing room we are calm. Yes, we regret the mistakes we made, but the players should not lose their heads over it. We seem to like to take the difficult road.
"We will do the best we can to play attacking football and try to win (the final Group G game)," he said.
Cameroon will have a tougher task in their hands though, with the Indomitable Lions needing to defeat top-ranked Brazil in the last Group match on December 2 at the Lusail Stadium.
The South American heavyweights yesterday sealed their place in the knockout stage following a 1-0 win over Switzerland at the Stadium 974.
"It is possible to beat Brazil. We believe in ourselves, we did not come here to just go through the motions. Cameroon still has a contribution to make to this tournament," Song said.
