AL WAKRAH, Qatar — Cameroon went ahead, then managed to erase a two-goal deficit to draw 3-3 with Serbia in a thrilling Group G match at Al Janoub Stadium on Monday.
After both teams lost their opening games in a group that also features Switzerland and tournament favorites Brazil, the point might not be enough to help either team get through to the round of 16, but it will keep them alive headed into Matchday 3. And it gave watching fans around the world something to get excited about in the early kickoff.
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Rapid Reaction
1. Super-sub Aboubakar leads historic comeback for Cameroon
After falling behind 3-1 in the 54th minute, Cameroon seemed all but out of the game. History said the same. Prior to Monday, only two African teams in World Cup history had ever come back from a two-goal deficit to get a result: South Africa’s 2-2 draw with Paraguay in 2002 and the Ivory Coast’s 3-2 win against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006.
The rest of the world hadn’t fared any better. Teams that have fallen behind by two were just 9-428-13 (W-L-D) in the World Cup, meaning less than 5% of those teams have been able to rescue at least a point.
Everything changed when Vincent Aboubakar replaced Martin Hongla in the 55th minute. His perfectly timed run put him in one-versus-one to score the team’s second goal with an incredible chip, then he assisted Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s equaliser minutes later.
Had it not been for arguably the team’s best player, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Cameroon might not have needed a comeback. First, the Napoli midfielder let Strahinja Pavlovic run unimpeded through the box and go unchallenged to head in Serbia’s first goal. Then, just two minutes later, he cheaply gave the ball away at the top of the box and didn’t work to win it back, which gave Sergej Milinkovic-Savic the chance that put Serbia in front.
