Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to rescue his side by scoring one superb goal and creating another as they fought back to draw 3-3 with Serbia on Monday, a result that kept both sides’ slim chances alive at the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Serbia’s Strahinja Pavlovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic netted after the break to cancel out Jean-Charles Castelletto’s opener for Cameroon at Al Janoub Stadium.
Aboubakar was summoned off the bench in the 55th minute and pulled a goal back for Cameroon with a stunning scooped chip over the keeper in the 63rd before teeing up Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to draw them level three minutes later. The draw halted a run of eight consecutive World Cup defeats for the African side.
The result left both sides on one point and needing to win their final Group G game to stand a chance of going through to the knockout stages, with Cameroon facing Brazil on Friday when Serbia take on Switzerland.
Teams
Cameroon (4-3-3):
Cameroon’s players pose for a team photo prior to the World Cup group G soccer match between Cameroon and Serbia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP
Devis Epassy; Nouhou Tolo, Jean-Charles Castelletto, Nicolas Nkoulou, Collins Fai; Martin Hongla, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Pierre Kunde; Bryan Mbeumo, Karl Toko Ekambi, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (capt)
Coach: Rigobert Song (CMR)
Serbia (3-4-2-1):
Serbia team players pose prior to the start of the World Cup group G soccer match between Cameroon and Serbia, at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; Nikola Milenkovic, Milos Veljkovic, Strahinja Pavlovic; Andrija Zivkovic, Sasa Lukic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Filip Kostic; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Dusan Tadic (capt); Aleksandar Mitrovic
Coach: Dragan Stojkovic (SRB)
Referee: Mohammed Abdulla (UAE)
(With input from agencies)
