Qatar Data: African teams provide drama while Man Utd stars shine
Serbia against Cameroon became the first team at the World Cup to score two goals in first half injury time of any match. Then, when striker Aleksandar Mitrovic upped the score to 3-1 after one of the most eye-catching plays of the tournament so far, it looked like a certain victory for Serbia.
The Fulham striker had a total of seven shots during the match, but none of his other chances were successful.
The key for Cameroon was Vincent Aboubakar, who was brought on as coach Rigobert Song's secret weapon in the 55th minute, and the former Porto or Besiktas striker returned the favour with a goal and an assist within a short space of time.
A wonderful match ended in a 3-3 draw and Cameroon ended an eight-match World Cup losing streak that had lasted since 2002.
See Cameroon vs Serbia at Flashscore
South Korea's players did not fire a shot on target in the first three halves of the tournament. In the second half against Ghana, however, they needed just under three minutes to score twice. Unfortunately for them, they were 0-2 down to the Black Stars and Ghana eventually won the wild match 3-2 thanks largely to a two-goal performance from Mohammed Kudus.
South Korea were the more active team in this clash and outclassed their African opponents in virtually every attacking statistic. They also sent in 35 crosses from play, equalling the world cup record.
The average position of their players also makes for interesting viewing, with virtually seven out of the ten outfield South Koreans playing in the attacking half, a testament to how much the team rallied around national talisman Son Heung-Min wanted to succeed. On the Ghana side, we could only count three.
See South Korea vs Ghana at Flashscore
The usual Brazilian football samba was long shattered by the machine-like pace of the Swiss, who relied on honest defence and for a long time, this plan worked well for them. After a 16th goalless first half of the tournament, it was Casemiro who ended the attacking woes for Brazil in the 83rd minute.
The Manchester United midfielder operated in the traditional central space against the Swiss, just as you would expect from a defensive shield, and the sometimes overlooked player was the engine of Tite's squad.
Brazil have not lost in the World Cup group stage for 17 consecutive matches and have advanced to the knockout stages of the tournament for the 14th time in a row. Along with these impressive stats, they are yet to concede a goal in Qatar and goalkeeper Alisson is certainly having a relaxed time so far.
He hasn’t pulled off a single save during Brazil’s opening two games and that's why he kept two clean sheets. Compared to Wojciech Sczesny of Poland, who has had to make nine saves to keep two clean sheets, this figure looks quite remarkable.
See Brazil vs Switzerland at Flashscore
The fourth match of the day saw a third team secure their spot in the round of 16. Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0, the South Americans are still waiting for the first goal of the tournament and many believe that the dark horse of the world cup are playing way below expectations. The all-important Bruno Fernandes was the star man for the Portuguese
The 28-year-old playmaker scored both goals and thanks to him the Portuguese have now won two games in a row at the World Cup for the first time since 2006. Fernandes currently has two goals and two assists at the World Cup with Kylian Mbappe the only other player who has managed this feat.
See Portugal vs Uruguay at Flashscore
That was the ninth day of play in Qatar, which produced the most goals scored in a single day so far, so let's hope we will have a similar goal fest in the coming days.
