Briel Embolo scored as Switzerland beat Cameroon 1-0 in their FIFA World Cup Group G match here on Thursday. Embolo may have led Switzerland to an important victory but he kept his promise not to celebrate if he scored against the country of his birth. In the 48th minute, Embolo headed home Sherdon Shaqiri’s pass in front of the goal with a thumping right-footed shot.
Embolo raised both his arms after scoring and covered his mouth as his teammates ran towards him to celebrate. He pointed to the Swiss fans behind the goal at the Al Zeinob Stadium and then to the Cameroonian fans behind the opposite goal. Twenty-five-year-old forward Embolo left Cameroon with his family at the age of five.
His family first lived in France but later settled in Switzerland. He is representing Switzerland in the World Cup for the second time. The African-born player may have scored but African teams are yet to score a goal in the current World Cup despite playing four matches. All these teams have played matches against a higher ranked team than themselves. Morocco and Tunisia then held Croatia and Denmark to a goalless draw respectively. With this defeat, Cameroon’s losing streak in the World Cup Finals tournament reached eight matches.
This sequence is going on since 2002. Both the teams started the match slowly. Cameroon missed a clear chance to score in the 10th minute. A straight pass over the Swiss central defender found Karl Toko Ekambi but he fired over the top of the goal from just 10 metres. Both the teams did not create many chances in the first half and opted for a defensive game which resulted in a goalless draw at the interval.
Embolo gave Switzerland the lead early in the second half. After a move from the left, the ball reached Shaqiri on the right, who passed it to Embolo and the forward made no mistake in scoring. Cameroon puts pressure on Switzerland. In the 66th minute of the match, Andre-Frank Djambo Anguisa’s header was easily saved by Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Shortly afterwards Switzerland made another move that was similar to Embolo’s goal but this time Ruben Vargas’ shot was saved by Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Before the game, Cameroonian legend Roger Milla was brought onto the field. During this, a video of his goals in the 1990 World Cup was also shown to the fans. Cameroon became the first African team to qualify for the quarter-finals in that World Cup. Mila was joined by one of Cameroon’s greatest players, Samuel Eto’o, who is now head of the country’s football federation. Eto’o scored the only goal in Cameroon’s last World Cup win against Saudi Arabia in 2002, 1-0.
