Vincent Aboubakar scored a historic victory for his country. Equally memorable was the way he celebrated his hit.
Cameroon made football history on Friday when they defeated Brazil in the final round of the group stage of the World Cup. The match remained goalless for a long time, but at the start of extra time, Cameroon managed to strike.
Vincent Aboubakar ran between Brazil’s center backs towards goal in a fitting manner as a cross from the right flew into the penalty area. Cameroon’s captain continued the ball to the goal and the joy broke out both in the stands and on the field.
Cameroon had collected only one point from their first two matches. It was still dreaming of a place in the next round, but it needed help from the second match even when it won. It didn’t happen, but the champion favorite’s goal into the net was enough for a wild celebration.
Cameroon’s eight previous World Cup matches had resulted in eight defeats and one draw. Brazil, on the other hand, had won 17 consecutive World Cup group stage matches and lost the last time in 1998.
Stunned, Aboubakar ran full steam towards the corner flag with his eyes wide open and quickly began to take off his jersey as well. In the corner of the field, he was joined by teammates who jumped on him, all the way to the bench.
This goal will be remembered in Cameroon for a long time.
Aboubakari made the most of his big moment.
The celebration was followed by reality, but it did not curb the national team captain’s joy.
What Aboubakar might have forgotten was that according to the rules, a yellow card is given for taking off the shirt. Aboubakari presented his jersey to the crowd and showed heart signs with his hands, when the referee was already approaching him from behind.
What Aboubakar could also forget was that he had already received a yellow card ten minutes earlier for his foul. The situation seemed to be remembered when the eyes met with the referee.
In a rare situation, both the referee and the player laughed at each other as they slapped their hands before another yellow card followed by a red card went up in the air.
Aboubakar walked off the field with a smile on his face and received handshakes and applause from the Cameroon bench.
The 1-0 win was not enough to take the country to the playoffs, but Cameroon became the first African team to beat Brazil at the World Cup.
– I try to emphasize the team spirit – the spirit of the lion – which has been the key thing for the Cameroonian teams over the years. We have a young team and maybe we haven’t been together long enough, but we can be a really good team, Cameroon head coach Rigobert Song said according to news agency Reuters.