Vincent Aboubakar: from the historic goal and celebration to Messi to the expulsion and elimination of Cameroon

The times when Samuel Eto’o shone in Barcelona and even aspired to win a Ballon d’Or are long gone. Cameroon didn’t arrive in Qatar 2022 with a player of those calibers in its ranks, even if most of its squad plays in Europe and some play in elite teams such as goalkeeper André Onana (Inter) and central midfielder Andre Zambo Anguissa (Naples). However, now far from the Old Continent, the man who gave the Indomitable Lions a historic victory over Brazil was the experienced captain vincent aboubakar.

Although he has played for Saudi Al-Nassr since mid-last year, where he is team-mates with Gonzalo Pity Martínez, the centre-forward has played more than a decade in European football. At only 18, he began his journey in the French Valenciennes, in which adaptation was very difficult for him (“it was difficult because I arrived in a totally unknown country, having no idea about anything”, he said) , but then settled in Lorient and made good strides through Porto and Besiktas before embarking on a journey to the Middle East.

He was also 18 when he wore the shirt of his country’s national team for the first time: it was on 29 May 2010 in a friendly match against Slovakia in Klagenfurt (Austria). Just two weeks later, he played his first World Cup, in South Africa, supported by the confidence of French coach Paul Le Guen. In 2014 he repeated the experience in Brazil. In neither edition was he able to score a goal or celebrate a victory.

On the other hand, the striker who admires Ronaldinho (“he’s the player who inspired me the most”, he assured) and Cristiano Ronaldo (he highlighted “his elite mentality”) was the author of the goal that in 2017 he gave his team the 2-1 victory in the African Cup of Nations final against Egypt in Libreville (Gabon). And he was the top scorer of the edition of the continental tournament that was played this year (he signed eight goals).

But he also wanted to put his name on a gold page of the World Cup. Even though his side were eliminated on Friday, the 30-year-old striker had the pleasure of scoring a great goal to beat Brazil after 92 minutes.

To celebrate him, he chose a celebration that Lionel Messi devised at Barcelona: he took off his number 10 shirt and showed it to the public who flocked to the Lusail stadium. Referee Ismail Elfath had no choice but to show him the yellow card, Aboubakar’s second in the match, which meant his sending off. That, however, didn’t dampen the pleasure of writing his name in history.

With four points, Cameroon finished third in Group G – behind Brazil and Switzerland, both on six – and greeted Qatar with their heads held high, after a surprise win against substitutes Brazil.

However, the triumph of the Africans was historic for several reasons: Brazil have not lost in the group stage since France 1998 and in Qatar 2022 he also went undefeated in 17 matches, with nine consecutive victories.