SAT. 03 DEC, 2022-theGBJournal| African Footballing giant, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions provided the spectacle at the end of the group and knockout states at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup in Lusail, hitting one past Brazil to seal a memorable 1-0 win.
A historic goal. The first to be scored by an African nation against the almighty Brazil in a FIFA World Cup™ match. Even more memorable because Brazil hadn’t lost a group-stage match in 24 years and because they were the favorite going into the game.
Brazil made their intention known from the blast of the whistle, blitzing the Cameroonians with some deft, intriguing runs down both flanks, with the technically gifted Anthony harassing the Cameroon defense. Spectators held the breath, expecting a bag full of goals before the end of the half.
That didn’t happen. The Indomitable Lions stood their ground, occasionally foraying into the Brazil end of the field.
Deep into the second half, the unexpected, unbelievable ‘miracle’ happened.
Midfielder Jerome Ngom Mbekeli floated down the right side of the field, in one of those rare forays, and delivered a sweet floater into the Brazil goal area. Captain Cameroon, indefatigable Veteran campaigner, Vincent Aboubakar rose majestically to glide a beautiful header past the a stunned Ederson in goal for Brazil.
The goal earned Cameroon 4 points in their group but not enough to lift them past the stage.
The victory underscored the rollacoaster ride of African nations at the World Cup in Qatar. Senegal and Morocco made it into the knock stage. Tunisia came close with a win against mighty France in Goup D while Ghana underperformed expectations in Group H where Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo scraped though as group winners.
The Netherlands, Senegal, England, USA, Argentina, Poland, France, Australia, Japan, Spain, Morocco, Croatia, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal and South Korea all have made it through to the last 16 which kicks off today.
The Netherlands plays USA at the Khalifa International Stadium to kick-off the knock stage while Argentina faces the Australia’s Socceroo at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in the other match of the day today, 3 December 2022.
So far, 120 goals have been scored so far in the tournament. Enner Valencia-Ecuador, Kylian Mbappe-France, Cody Gakpo-Netherlands, Alvaro Morata-Spain and Marcus Rasford-England lead the Golden Boot rush for the top goal-scorer.
14 penalties have been given with nine scord. Own goals count stands at 2 while England and Spain recorded the highest goals by a team. Costa Rica conceed 11 goals at the group stage.
Attendance at the venues has so far meet all expections. The match between Argentina drew a massive 88, 966 spectators.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, the first player ever to score in five consecutive World Cupos after opening his account in 2006 is currently down the order while his arch rival Lionel Messi, who is aiming to add the World Cup to his already bulging chest of trophies, has two goals in bag already ahead of the knock-out state.
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