2022 World Cup – Tuesday 29 November 2022
Group G: Cameroon 3 (1) – (2) 3 Serbia (Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah)
Cameroon scorers: Castelletto (29′), Aboubakar (63′), Choupo-Moting (66′). Serbia scorers: Pavlovic (45’+1’), S Milinkovic-Savic (45’+3’), Mitrovic (53′)
Group H: South Korea 2 (0) – (2) 3 Ghana (Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan)
South Korea scorers: Cho (58′, 61′). Ghana scorers: Salisu (24′), Kudus (34′, 68′)
Group G: Brazil 1 (0) – (0) 0 Switzerland (Stadium 974, Doha)
Brazil scorer: Casemiro (83′)
Group H: Portugal 2 (0) – (0) 0 Uruguay (Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail)
Portugal scorer: Bruno Fernandes (54′, 90’+3’ pen)
And so the second round of group games comes to a finale with a bit of a goals flourish as the tables take shape leaving everyone knowing what needs to be done to progress whilst for others its simply means packing their bags.
The opening game of the day saw Serbia take on Cameroon in a game which a draw was not really of much use to either side, given they both lost their first group game. Serbia started brightly and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic was unlucky not to give them the lead when his curling effort struck the post. However, it was the African side who went ahead when a corner eventually found its way to the back post where Castelletto tapped in. It looked like an advantage they would take into the break but two goals in added time from Pavlovic and Milinkovic-Savic meant it was the Serbs who went in 2-1 up.
When Serbia then scored eight minutes into the second half with a simple Mitrovic finish after a slick breakaway move the game looked up for Cameroon. However, just as in the first half there was a quick burst of scoring as goals on 63’ and 66’ brought Cameroon level at 3-3. The first from Aboubakar looked it was offside and the way he cheekily lobbed the ball in and barely celebrated, indicated he felt the same. VAR check ensued and showed it wasn’t – cue Aboubakar’s celebration. Then another breakaway saw Choupo-Moting sweep home and suddenly the African side were in the ascendency. The see-saw match was nearly won late on, as Mitrovic was teed up inside the box, only to see his effort curl wide.
Ghana and South Korea then treated us to another ding-dong encounter. Ghana scored twice in the first half, when South Korea’s ability to defend balls into the box proved their undoing. From a free-kick Salisu eventually slotted home after the ball bounced around in the box and for the second, a deep ball in allowed Kudus to ghost in between the defenders and glance home – kudos indeed (sorry couldn’t resist it!) Whatever was said in the South Korean dressing room did the trick as two towering headers from Cho on 58’ and 61’ had well, turned the game on its head. However, their joy was short-lived as within seven minutes Ghana were in front again. Credit to South Korea as they took the game to Ghana and created a number of chances. At the whistle though Ghana took the points and while they celebrated, South Korea manager Paulo Bento was sent off for arguing with English referee Anthony Taylor for not allowing a corner to be taken even though time was up.
After that the Brazil Switzerland game felt like a bit of anti-climax, with Casemiro’s sweet strike seven minutes from time pretty much the only highlight.
Last up was Portugal and Uruguay in a pretty ordinary game, with two goals from Bruno Fernandes (one a penalty in time added up) taking them through to the last sixteen. The biggest talking point was whether Ronaldo had got his head to the cross-shot that opened the scoring for Portugal. Well, weren’t we all relieved when Adidas who provide the Official World Cup balls (the Al Rihla – the journey) announced that the internal ball sensor had not detected any contact from Ronaldo – I’d have lost sleep over it!