Cameroon fall apart with a red card and a headbutt
"Bad day" would be an understatement for Cameroon.
It's no surprise they lost 4-0 to Croatia in their Group A match this morning (Singapore time) considering the way players were acting on the field.
Cameroon were already hamstrung before kick-off when captain Samuel Eto’o lost his battle to make the starting line-up having failed to recover from a knee injury.
Croatia needed just eleven minutes to take the lead as Cameroon failed to bounce back in tropical Manaus after their opening 1-0 defeat to Mexico. Ivica Olic met an Ivan Perisic pass at the far post and buried his shot past Cameroon goalkeeper Charles Itandje, then nearly added a second five minutes later.
Things went downhill for Cameroon as Barcelona’s Song became the third player to be sent off at the World Cup, after Portugal’s Pepe and Uruguay’s Maxi Pereira.
Referee Pedro Proenca spotted Song lashing out at Mandzukic on a Croatian counterattack and he produced a red card on 40 minutes.
Perisic grabbed Croatia’s second on 48 minutes when he unleashed a powerful shot after a strong run.
Mandzukic then grabbed his brace. He headed home from a corner on 61 minutes before firing in his second on 73 minutes when he tucked home the rebound after Itandje saved a shot from substitute Eduardo.
Barcelona’s new signing Ivan Rakitic squandered a golden chance to claim Croatia’s fifth just before the final whistle.
Then, Cameroon imploded as full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto appeared to headbutt team-mate Benjamin Moukandjo late on.
The result leaves Niko Kovac’s Croatia third in the table, just one point behind joint leaders Brazil and Mexico. They will next play Mexico on Tuesday (June 24).
Cameroon are bottom with no points. They will now be playing just for price when they face Brazil in Brasilia, also on Tuesday.
Source: AFP, USA Today
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