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Aboubakar rescues Cameroon in exciting 3-3 draw with Serbia

AL WAKRAH: Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score one goal and set up another as the Indomitable Lions rescued a point in a 3-3 draw with Serbia on Monday, which ended a run of eight successive World Cup losses for the African side.

The roller-coaster Group G fixture leaves both teams, on a single point from two games, still in contention for a last-16 place. Cameroon will face Brazil in its final match on Friday while Serbia will take on Switzerland.

Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic said that the team felt like two points were lost after it let a 3-1 advantage slip. But for Cameroon, which stopped the rot in its World Cup results dating back to 2002, the draw breathes life back into its campaign.

“In these competitions, you have to show desire for victory,” Aboubakar said. “My teammates played a great first half despite some small mistakes. We felt that it (Serbia) was 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. In that regard, we played a great game.”

Cameroon was without first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana, who was asked to leave the squad according to coach Rigobert Song, amid reports that the pair had a falling out over tactics.

It was Serbia which had started the match looking like the brighter side. Alexander Mitrovic struck the post when his quick footwork created a shooting chance from a tight angle.

He had another huge opportunity when Cameroon made a hash of clearing its lines and the ball fell to him eight yards out with the goal at his mercy, but he fired wide.

Cameroon then took the lead from a set-piece. Jean-Charles Castelletto got on the end of Nicolas N’Koulou’s flick to tap home at the back post.

But, it never looked comfortable at the back and Serbia levelled in first half injury-time. Dusan Tadic floated a freekick into the box and Strahinja Pavlovic rose highest to direct the ball into the corner of the net.

Serbia grabbed the lead two minutes later when the Cameroon defence allowed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic time to pick his spot from the edge of the box and he steered the ball into the net.

The third for Serbia was a beautifully worked goal that was started and finished by Mitrovic. He drove towards the penalty box and after a succession of passes inside the area, the ball was squared by Andrija Zivkovic and the burly No.9 had a simple tap-in for his seventh goal in his last six caps.

RESULT: Serbia 3 (Pavlovic 45+1, Milinkovic-Savic 45+3, Mitrovic 53) drew with Cameroon 3 (Castelletto 29, Aboubakar 63, Choupo-Moting 66)

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2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://news.dtnext.in/article/282351158791086

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