Mexico vs. Cameroon, 2014 World Cup: El Tri sneak through

Layún/Guardado vs. the Cameroon right

With the left-sided overload a staple in Mexico’s attack, one would have expected Cameroon right back Allan Nyom to play a key defensive role. But Nyom never appeared*, and instead the Indomitable Lions found themselves relying on the untested figure of Cédric Djeugoue. Twenty-one years old and untested at a serious level, Djeugoue was tasked with shutting down the Layún/Guardado axis. Predictably, that didn’t go very well.

*It seems likely at this point that there was an unreported late injury.

After an hour, they finally scored.

OH BABY. OH BABY.

OHHHHHHHHHHH BAYBEEEEEEEE.

Giovani dos Santos has scored two goals. Neither counted. He wasn’t offside for the first one, and he wasn’t offside for the second one either.

Feeling you, Miguel Herrera

Cameroon lineup 4-3-3, with no surprises anywhere but their back four. Benoît Assou-Ekotto is given the nod over Henri Bedimo at left-back, while Nicolas N’Koulou and Aurélien Chedjou are both preferred over Joël Matip at center back.

These types of matches do occasionally turn into borefests in which both teams are more afraid of losing than of not winning, but with Miguel Herrera at the helm of El Tri, this is unlikely to be the case. Herrera’s Club America never went into a negative mode, and his Mexico side haven’t done that at any point during his admittedly short tenure.

Attacking is in their blood and he doesn’t have the defensive midfielders in his stable to sit back and hold on for a shutout. Mexico have to attack to get good results, and if they score, Cameroon will have to attack them back.