What started off as a pretty even match-up turned into one of the most lopsided games so far in this tournament. Cameroon should thank Alex Song for that.
Both teams entered this match-up with 0 points, Croatia losing to Brazil and Cameroon to Mexico. As Mexico and Brazil played to a 0-0 draw last night, the loser of this game would be mathematically eliminated from the World Cup knockout stage.
Both teams played pretty evenly for the first 40 minutes, despite an Ivica Olic goal in the 11th minute. It all turned around in the 40th minute with this…
Song would earn himself a straight red card and granted a one man advantage for Croatia. The Croatians would take full advantage of this in the second half. A goal kick from Cameroonian goalkeeper, Charles Itandje, landed in front of Ivan Perisic, who had an open field in front of him. He would run down the left wing, as shown below, and finish the job himself to make it a 2-0 Croatian lead.
At this point, Cameroon played as desperate as any of us could imagine but Croatia would control the midfield and deny any advancement of Cameroon’s attack. Little by little, Croatia found holes in 10-man Cameroon. Mario Mandzukic capitalized on a header off of a corner kick on the 61st minute, virtually nailing the coffin on Cameroon’s chance of making a comeback.
Now, we can say Cameroon had no chance. Croatia didn’t care. Now Croatia played for what everyone knows: goal differential could play a huge roll in advancing into the knockout rounds. With that said, Mario Mandzukic would add one more in the 73rd minute to end the scoring and send Cameroon back home.
Now, Croatia will have another must win scenario if they are to move past the group stage. They will take on Mexico on Monday at 1PM PST as Brazil takes on Cameroon and the very same hour. Mexico and Brazil lead the group at 4 points, Brazil leading with a +2 goal differential as opposed to Mexico’s +1. Croatia is right behind with 3 points and a +2 goal differential.
A win by either of the 3 teams will lock up a spot into the knockout stages. Now, draws would make it interesting. A draw between Croatia and Mexico would lock up a spot for Mexico at 5 points. That would mean, a loss for Brazil against Cameroon would lock up a spot for Croatia as well. If Brazil and Cameroon play to a draw, it would give Brazil the nod into the next round. In other words, Croatia MUST win.
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Photo Credit: Raphael Alves/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images