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DOHA: Cameroon kept their World Cup last-16 hopes alive on Monday, coming from two goals down to draw in a thrilling Group G clash with Serbia 3-3.
Rigobert Song’s side seemed close to dead and buried after goals from Strahinja Pavlovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Serbia a 3-1 lead early in the second half.
But substitute Vincent Aboubakar and Eric-Maxime Choupo-Moting snatched the equalizer with two quick strikes on the hour mark, leaving Cameroon and Serbia a point each, two behind group leaders Brazil and Switzerland.
Had they lost, Cameroon could have counted on the Swiss beating Brazil so they would not be eliminated with a game to spare, but instead West Africa still have a chance of exiting the group stage for the first time since 1990.
Cameroon awaits a tough task as they play Brazil in their final match, which will reportedly be played without first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana who was left out of the matchday squad just hours before kick-off due to an unspecified disciplinary issue.
Media reports suggest Onana has been sent home from the World Cup after a falling out with Song, but the pre-match turmoil didn’t stop Cameroon from putting up a combative display against a Serbia side that might have deserved a win on the balance sheet.
Asked by AFP if he would start the final for Cameroon, Onana substitute Davies Ibasi said “you have to ask the coach” and insisted there was no problem in the camp. Meanwhile, Serbia hopes that Brazil will beat Switzerland, otherwise the qualifiers will slip out of their hands in the final round of Group G matches.
“We wanted the three points, we wanted to start this tournament with a win so it’s difficult to win,” said substitute Marko Grujic. “We need to take that point and watch Brazil tonight, hope they win and then hopefully beat Switzerland.”
Mitrovic was almost invisible in Serbia’s defeat to Brazil, but here he was involved from the start, and the Fulham forward was unlucky to give Serbia the lead in the 11th minute when he hit a shot off the post from a narrow angle after an elegant exchange of passes with Dusan Tadic.
But Mitrovic could only bear himself because he did not open the scoring after six minutes, to score a terrible goal for the first time when the ball fell at his feet and he had only Ebesi to beat, after a mistake in the Cameroonian defense. Jean-Charles Castelletto punished the Serbs for Mitrovic’s miss in the 29th minute with the slightest finishing touch, after he settled in the back corner to meet Nicholas Nkoulou’s shot in a corner kick.
Then Pierre Conde missed a golden opportunity to double Cameroon’s lead in the 43rd minute and it was Cameroon’s turn to undo a free kick when Pavlovic’s header brilliantly free kick from Tadic.
Serbia’s tails were high and Milinkovic-Savic turned the game on its head two minutes later with a superb left-foot finish after Andre Frank Zambo Anguesa fired the ball wide outside his penalty area.
Mitrovic scored the last goal his powerful display deserved seven minutes after half-time, tapping in an unopposed Andrija Zivkovic pass at the end of a fine move led by Milinkovic-Savic and Tadic.
The match ended, but Cameroon came back to life from nowhere thanks to Aboubacar El Gharib’s goal.
The Al-Nassr forward charged Castelletto’s pass over the top and slotted an improbable goal over the Serbian keeper, beaming with joy after his goal was awarded after a VAR check. Abubakar’s speed caused all sorts of problems for Serbia, so he leveled with Choupo-Moting, sprinted in from the right and set up a simple finish for the Bayern Munich striker sparking wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Neither side could find a winner at the end of the match and their bids for a knockout would go down to the final.
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