Breel Emblo scored against his country of birth to help Switzerland produce one of the narrow football scores of the midweek action in the World Cup. Embolo, who was reared in Basel but was born in the capital Yaounde of Cameroon, is playing for Switzerland in his second World Cup after becoming a citizen in 2014. In the 48th minute, the striker completed a fluid play by scooping home a low cutback from Xherdan Shaqiri, but given his ties to Africa, he chose a subdued celebration. In their last four appearances at major event finals, Switzerland’s creative dynamo, former Liverpool forward Xherdan Shaqiri, has been directly involved in exactly half of his team’s 24 goals.
The Swiss goal came after Cameroon, which had dominated an entertaining first half but had failed to win a World Cup match in 20 years, but missed multiple opportunities to take the lead. Before Karl Toko Ekambi’s rebound went over the crossbar in the 11th minute, Bryan Mbeumo tested goalkeeper Yann Sommer in the 10th minute. Chupo-Moting was especially risky because Cameroon was able to gain ground with quick counterattacks. Three minutes into the second session, talisman Shaqiri dragged the ball back to an open Embolo, much to the relief of head coach Yakin, who had earlier claimed to be in charge of the “greatest Switzerland national team that has ever been.”
The Monaco attacker scored with a straightforward first-time effort and then raised his hands in what appeared to be an atonement gesture. He has scored in each of his past three competitive outings. Just before the hour mark, a very identical move threatened to end the game, but goalkeeper Andre Onana deflected Ruben Vargas’s shot wide as Switzerland slowly started to show signs of the menace and intensity their manager had previously promised.
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