The Serbian team missed an unbeatable chance on Monday and complicated their qualification for the round of 16 by drawing 3-3 with Cameroon, in a match in which it seemed they could score goals and in which they had to settle for one point. Halfway through the second half, the Balkan team was winning 3-1 and had everything under control, but they were careless and the Cameroonians equalized on a counterattack.
In one of the best matches of the tournament, Serbia and Cameroon put on a brilliant show, with two teams that thought of the rival goal and left countless risky chances. Although the Serbs dominated development and were able to take the lead with a shot from Mitrovic that hit the post, it was the Cameroonians who took the lead with a set piece that center-back Jean-Charles Castelletto defined.
Beyond the disadvantage, Serbia continued to be better and in a flurry turned the game around, when the discount time of the first half was already played. First it was the center-back Pavlovic who defined with a perfect header and then it was Serge Milinkovic-Savic who decided to place from the edge of the area to place the well-deserved 2-1 partial.
With the field and the result in their favour, Serbia showed their best version and reached the third goal with the best collective play of the championship, in an attack in which all their offensive players touched it and Mitrovic ended up defining with absolute comfort.
The game was set for Serbia to increase their goal difference thinking about qualifying and for Cameroon to increase their streak of consecutive losing matches in World Cups, a figure that had already climbed to eight. However, the entry of Vincent Aboubakar and Serbian indifference changed the picture. In three minutes, the striker scored a great goal over the goalkeeper’s head -as it seemed offside, a half that changed the definition and produced a work of art- and assisted Choupo-Moting so that the Bayern striker scored the tie , before an inexplicably depopulated and advanced defense.
With the score tied, Serbia regained control and generated the best chances, but no longer had the precision to win. Thus, he missed a great opportunity and was waiting for a hand from Brazil later against Switzerland, and then beat the Swiss to aspire to the round of 16.