With star Neymar looking on from the sidelines, Brazil have finished atop Group G despite losing 1-0 to Cameroon after making nine changes. It was a chippy affair with Cameroon collecting five yellow cards and one red card but the Indomitable Lions can hold their heads high despite being eliminated in a strange fashion. Brazil dominated the entire game but each time they went forward they were chopped down. Rigobert Song's side managed to topple the favorites for the tournament on their way out out of the World Cup.
The ending is one of the stranger ones that the World Cup has ever seen as Cameroon finally broke down Brazil's defense with Vincent Aboubakar scoring near the end of the match and taking his shirt off in celebration thinking that Cameroon were through to the round of 16. Not only were Cameroon not through as Switzerland would have needed to concede to Serbia in the other Group G match to bring the teams level on points, but he was also on a yellow card already and earned a second yellow card and a sending off in the match.
CAMEROON SCORES 😱🇨🇲 pic.twitter.com/dvrY004pK3
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 2, 2022
It's a valiant, but silly way to go out of the World Cup. But Cameroon lent itself to a strong CAF showing as every African nation picked up at least one victory though only Senegal and Morocco will feature in the last 16. For Brazil, next up is a clash with South Korea on Monday. With the nine changes they made today, they will be well rested for the match but Tite will have concerns over who will feature at left back.
Alex Telles started the match but was replaced by Marquinhos early in the second half. Telles was shaken up after a clash with Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. A center back by trade, Marquinhos didn't close down Jerome Ngom Mbekeli on his cross into Aboubakar for the winner. Danilo already missed the match with an ankle injury and is also set to miss Monday's knockout stage match.
If Telles doesn't recover, Marquinhos may need to deputize for that match as well and his defensive job will be even tougher with Heung-Min Son roaming the wing for South Korea. The midfield is strong enough to make things work but Tite also has the option of putting Gabriel Martinelli and Raphinha at wing back and pushing everything forward to overwhelm South Korea.
