yesterday 10:08
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Switzerland’s footballers have advanced to the qualifying round of the World Cup for the fourth time, while starting this tournament for the fifth time. In Friday’s direct fight for a place in the round of 16, they beat the Serbs 3:2, the Balkans didn’t keep their lead of 2:1. The Helvetians fought for promotion from Group G alongside favorites Brazil, who were surprised by Cameroon. After the 1:0 triumph, the Africans didn’t say goodbye to the championship in a bad mood.
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Sherdan Shaqiri put the Swiss ahead in the early stages, but first-half goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic shifted the momentum towards the Serbian side. Breel Embolo equalized just before the break and Remo Freuler decided the three points after the change of sides.
“It was an emotional match, but overall it was fair.” the AFP agency quoted the Swiss captain Granit Xhaka. “We wanted to concentrate on football and win this match and we succeeded. We are now in the round of 16 and we are proud of it.” added the midfielder.
The Swiss have earned six points and the Portuguese await them in the battle for promotion to the top eight. The duel will be played on Tuesday 6 December at 20:00 at the Lusail stadium.
The meeting between the two teams at the 2018 World Cup was very emotional. In this duel, Xhaka and Shaqiri scored, the goals were celebrated with political gestures. After the goals, both players crossed their arms across their chests, reminding us of the double-headed eagle on the Albanian flag, as both footballers’ roots go to this country. Both are the origin of the so-called Kosovar Albanians and Kosovo in particular broke away from Serbia after the war in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and until now the Serbs have not recognized them as an independent state.
Emotions flared in the second half in Qatar on Friday after Switzerland striker Breel Embolo clashed with some of the substitutes on the Serbian bench. However, the referees brought the situation under control.
Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic said he didn’t know what caused the crash: “Maybe someone said something to someone. Sometimes the duel is tense and some words can cause this kind of behavior, but it’s nothing special. I think it’s normal for this kind of match. I can’t tell you why, what exactly happened.”
In the 65th minute, the Serbs called for a penalty after a fight between Mitrović and Schär, when the Serbian striker fell to the ground in dramatic fashion. However, the referees correctly assessed the situation, much to the chagrin of the Balkans. Serbia substitute goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovič has received one yellow card, one of eleven in this duel. They are the team that has lost the most in a World Cup match since the 2010 final.
Cameroon with a historic scalp
Cameroon coach Rigobert Song hugged his players after the match against Brazil and enjoyed the victory with them. However, it wasn’t enough for them to advance, although they were the first African team to beat the Brazilians at the World Cup.
“It’s a young team. We need experience. We screwed up in the first game, but now I’m proud of my players. Of course we’re disappointed, but we can grow. We’re leaving with regrets, but we’ll be back.” Song said. His colleague Tite took the loss unexpectedly hard: “I am the first coach to lose against Brazil in a match against an African team.”
Vincent Aboubakar secured a flattering victory with the ‘indomitable lion’ in the second minute of stoppage time. The goalscorer took off his shirt while celebrating the goal, saw the second yellow card of the match and then a red card. Referee Ismail Elfath stroked the Cameroonian shooter before awarding him, he also stroked his chest in the heart area with his palm. Obviously he wasn’t happy with her verdict, but he had to follow the rules.
The Brazilians want to take another step towards their sixth world title next Monday (20.00) against the Republic of Korea. Whether the still-injured Neymar will return remains to be seen. Coach Tite wants to comment on the return of his football superstar over the weekend.
“It will be a different game against the Koreans and we will have a different team on the field. Now comes the stage where you can no longer make mistakes. We must not give up, we learned that in the game against Cameroon.” said captain Dani Alves.
Tite made nine changes to the starting lineup against Switzerland (1:0), and substitute goalkeeper Ederson also played the first minutes of the tournament in Qatar. Alves was the captain of his team and at the age of 39 became the oldest player of the “canaries” at the World Cup. Despite all the changes, the Brazilians dominated the match.
The most outstanding performance was shown by winger Gabriel Martinelli, who had an excellent season with Arsenal in the English Premier League. His speed was constantly causing problems for the opposition defense. The Cameroonians, although they still had a theoretical chance of reaching the knockout stages, looked extremely embarrassed going forward. Also for this reason, in his eighth appearance at the World Cup, he did not get out of the group for the seventh time.
