Cameroon vs Brazil: Brazil lost to Cameroon by a surprise score of 1-0 on Friday, but they still finished first in Group G.
Tite’s team won most of the game, but Vincent Aboubakar’s late header gave Brazil its first winter loss. Ultimately, it didn’t matter because Switzerland couldn’t make up for the difference in goals when they beat Serbia.
Gabriel Martinelli had Brazil’s first real chance. He got high to meet a cross with a superb header, but goalkeeper Devis Epassy made a great save.
Fred then shot over the bar with an acrobatic shot in the first half with no real chances but which was entirely dominated by Brazil until the very end, when Ederson made a great save on Bryan Mbeumo’s header, which was the first shot on goal Brazil has given up in the whole tournament.
Cameroon had another chance to score at the start of the second half. This time, Aboubakar found an inch of space and shot on the turn, but his shot went wide of Ederson’s post.
Gabriel Jesus had a half-chance to score when the ball bounced around in the penalty box, but the Arsenal striker couldn’t get enough on his long shot to be a real threat.
Gabriel Martinelli also had an excellent curling shot that Epassy saved, and then Epassy had to stop Eder Militao from a corner. The first ten minutes of the second half were more entertaining than the whole first half.
Things had to calm down, but Olivier Ntcham’s long-range shot hit Ederson’s gloves with a low shot in the last 15 minutes.
Bruno Guimaraes thought he would win the game late on when he got to Raphinha’s low cross on the six-yard line, but young Christopher Wooh jumped in front of the shot to save his team.
Cameroon scored a surprise winner in the last few seconds of the game when Aboubakar went around Ederson and scored. He got his second yellow card for celebrating too much. Even though Switzerland beat Serbia, it didn’t matter because the African team had to settle for third place.
Bruno Guimaraes should have tied the game for Brazil late in the game, but he couldn’t control his volley and ended up shooting over the goal from just a few yards away.
The player rating for Cameroon (4-2-3-1)
GK: Devis Epassy – 7/10 – More than once, he looked scared, but he did everything he needed to do. Play fair.
Collins Fai, RB, 6/10 crazy in the first half but played very well in the second.
CB: Enzo Ebosse – 8/10 – Ebosse, a left-back who played in the middle, did an excellent job of keeping Brazil from getting too many clear shots on goal. In the second half, Antony had to deal with a tough challenge.
CB: Christopher Wooh, 8 out of 10 Wooh was another gem from the Rennes setup, and he seemed at ease playing against top players. Watch the 21-year-old closely.
LB: Nouhou Tolo (6/10): Like Fai on the other side, he calmed down in the second half and gave an all-out effort.
DM: Pierre Kunde (5/10): The Brazil midfield seemed to be one step ahead of him. He tried to catch up, but he got booked.
DM: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa – 7/10 – He was so strong in the middle that Brazil had to look to the sides to score.
RM: Bryan Mbeumo – 5/10 – He couldn’t do much, and he’ll be upset that he couldn’t do more with his header.
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting – 5/10 – Cameroon’s half of the field was where most of the game took place.
LM: Nicolas Ngamaleu – 6/10 – Even though he didn’t attack, his selfless work on defense was key to stopping Antony.
Vincent Aboubakar – 6/10 – Rarely touched the ball in the first half, but after halftime, he tried to get involved. He scored a great goal late in the game, but he got himself sent off in the process. Busy.
Substitutes Karl Toko Ekambi (64′ for Mbeumo) – 5/10 – A bit quiet, except when he destroyed Alves.
Olivier Ntcham (68′ for Kunde) – 6/10 – After he was introduced, he did a lot.
Jerome Mbekeli (on for Ngamaleu in the 86th minute): 7/10. He didn’t play for long, but his beautiful cross set up Aboubakar’s winner.
Manager Rigobert Song – 7/10 – He chose his team by taking some risks, and they paid off. Made sure Cameroon did well against what might have been the best team in the tournament.
The player rating for Brazil (4-2-3-1)
GK: Ederson got a 6/10 because he saved a shot from Mbeumo and looked good on camera. Other than that, he had a quiet game.
RB: Dani Alves – 4/10 – The oldest Brazilian who ever played in the World Cup looked like the oldest Brazilian who ever played in the World Cup. The legs are not as good as they used to be.
CB: Eder Militao got a 6/10 because he did a fantastic move to get back off the floor during one of the few times he was involved.
Bremer, the cornerback, got a 6/10 for his defense, but he probably played it a little too safe when he passed. Max Allegri would be happy for the man from Juve.
LB: Alex Telles – 5/10 – Not very good at defending, and they didn’t do enough to help Martinelli get to the goal. He was hurt early in the second half and had to leave.
Fabinho: 5/10. He had a rare chance to show that he was better than Casemiro, but he played way too safe. His backward pass didn’t help anyone very much.
DM: Fred – 6/10 – He moved forward well and was involved in most of Brazil’s best moments, like when he set up Martinelli with an excellent cross early on.
RM: Antony – 6/10 – There were some good parts and some evil ones. He had a lot of chances but didn’t always take advantage of them.
AM: Rodrygo got a 7/10 because he liked the central role he played for his club team. Ran around the attacking line with no one stopping him and gave the defenders nightmares.
LM: Gabriel Martinelli is Brazil’s biggest threat, scoring 7/10. He was always a threat down the left wing, and it was a shame he didn’t score once or twice.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 5/10 – I couldn’t get into it. The defenders for Cameroon did an excellent job of marking him out of the game.
Bruno Guimaraes took the place of Fred in the 55th minute. There were both good and bad times. Not as interesting as his last performance.
Marquinhos (subbed in for Telles in the 55th minute): 7/10. Some fun chaos at the left back. Even though it was uncomfortable on the left side, it still worked.
Everton Ribeiro (55′ for Rodrygo) – 5/10 – Compared to the people around him, he didn’t have much to offer.
Pedro (64′ for Jesus) – 5/10 – The same quiet as Jesus.
Rafinha (79′ for Antony): 6/10, a fun cameo.
Manager Tite got a 6/10 because he put his best players on the bench when it made sense, but he will still be upset about not being able to beat Cameroon. He could have brought more weapons if he wanted to, but there were many good reasons he didn’t.
Enzo Ebosse was the game’s best player (Cameroon)
