Cameroon's Vincent Aboubakar celebrates after scoring the opening goal in the World Cup group G soccer match between Cameroon and Brazil on Friday, December 2, 2022, at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.On a memorable and bittersweet night for African soccer, Cameroon coach Rigobert Song came full circle. Cameroon's only member of the team who plays for a Cameroonian club, Jerome Ngom Mbekeli, made an inspiring run and cross to set up Vincent Aboubakar's header and stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 victory, making the Indomitable Lions the first African nation to defeat Brazil at a World Cup. Cameroon finished third in its group and was eliminated despite its victory on Friday.
Cameroon's final substitution, Ngom Mbekeli, 24, came on four minutes from time. Song credited his former coach, Henri Michel, with giving him a chance in 1994, when he was making his World Cup debut for local club Tonnerre Yaoundé."You must have faith in youth," Song said through a translator. "Henri Michel gave me a chance." He recognized my potential. Now that I'm the coach, I see a lot of potential in my young players.
"I was aware that (Ngom Mbekeli) was a good, quality player." He just needed a chance to prove it. "Hopefully, his performance will inspire other local players."
Devis Epassy, who was thrust into action after regular starter Andre Onana was sent home for disciplinary reasons following a dispute with Song prior to Cameroon's previous game, was named player of the match after a string of difficult saves.
"No one knew who I was — even in Cameroon — until I joined the national team a year ago," Epassy said through a translator. "We have a lot to be proud of."Both Epassy and Aboubakar play for Saudi clubs.
Aboubakar, 22, was the top scorer at the African Cup of Nations in January, with eight goals in seven games.
Song and Cameroon's soccer federation president, Samuel Eto'o, are instituting a strict discipline policy modeled after the European clubs for which they once played — Song as a dependable defender and Eto'o as a standout striker.
"That's where we've fallen short in the past," Song admitted. "Perhaps we didn't do everything correctly, so we're emphasizing discipline.""The team must always take precedence over individuals." When you play for your country, you must do what is expected of you."
Despite the fact that Brazil had already advanced and was mostly made up of reserves, Cameroon became the first team to defeat the five-time champion in the World Cup group stage since Norway did it in 1998 in France, ending an unbeaten run of 17 group matches.
"We now realize we could have done better," Song said. "But we're a young team, and we've seen a young team grow stronger and stronger today, and they deserve to be congratulated on their performance.""It's a real shame we have to leave now, "Song was added. "But we'll keep working and getting better."
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