An apologetic Breel Embolo scored the winner against the country of his birth to hand Switzerland a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in their World Cup Group G clash at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
Embolo swept home a low Xherdan Shaqiri cross after 48 minutes and then stood still with a rueful frown on his face as his teammates celebrated around him. The 25-year-old was born in Yaounde, Cameroon but raised in Basel in his adopted country.
Cameroon were the better side in the opening half and could have led as Karl Toko Ekambi, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Martin Hongla all missed good chances against a lacklustre Switzerland, who battled to get out of first gear.
But the Swiss were much improved in the second period and took the lead through Embolo’s well-worked goal. Ruben Vargas missed an excellent chance to score a second but was thwarted by goalkeeper Andre Onana as Cameroon ran out of steam.
