Football NOS•
Watch the Cameroon-Brazil summary here
Despite the defeat, the Brazilians won the group and will play in the next round against South Korea, who surprisingly beat Portugal earlier today. Switzerland meets Portugal.
The oldest Brazilian Alves
Brazil, without the injured Neymar, has already qualified for the next round, and so coach Tite sent nine new names to the field compared to the match against Switzerland. This gave Anthony the chance to prove himself and veteran Dani Alves was in the starting line-up.
The defender, at 39 years old, has become the oldest Brazilian player to ever appear in a World Cup final. Thus Alves surpassed Thiago Silva, 38 at the time.
Brazil was also the home country against Cameroon in Group B, which they had to win to have a chance to reach the Final Eight. However, as in the previous group matches, he did not take a swing at one of the favorites for the overall victory. Brazil didn’t get more than a handful of chances before the break.
Cameroon held on well and even had the best chance of the match in extra time of the first half. Brian Mbeumu headed in well into the corner but Ederson, who replaced Alisson Becker under the crossbar, managed to avoid being left behind with an excellent save.
Brazil inspiration
Brazil already looked to be on top in the next round, because after the break they played sloppy and uninspired. Cameroon didn’t give much in return so it seemed like a game to forget.
But in stoppage time, it came to life with Vincent Aboubakar in the main role. Cameroon’s tastemaker made it 1-0, took off his shirt and received his second yellow card. It was all in vain, as Switzerland held out against Serbia and Cameroon went home.
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