Croatia Eliminates Shorthanded Cameroon

Mario Mandzukic returned from suspension to score two goals, including this header

MANAUS, Brazil - Croatia handed Cameroon its second loss and guaranteed them an early flight home as Croatia cruised to a 4-0 victory Wednesday. Cameroon was without star forward Samuel Eto'o due to injury and lost Alex Song to a red card in the 40th minute. Croatia got one goal in the first half and three in the second in the victory.

The first strike came in the 11th minute when Ivica Olic scored off a Ivan Perisic pass. For much of the first half the game was fairly evenly matched with Cameroon getting chances from Benjamin Moukandjo and replacement Vincent Aboubakar among others. Both teams were effective at working the sidelines with Croatia's goal and several of Cameroon's chances coming by way of the cross.

Following the sendoff of Song, Croatia dominated the remaining 50 minutes of play. Second half goals were added by Perisic as well as Mario Mandzukic who returned from a one game suspension to net two goals as Croatia ran away with the match.

To Cameroon's credit they never gave up and continued playing hard to the last whistle. In fact the closest they came to scoring was a header from Pierre Webo in the 89th minute. It was really the first ball that Cameroon managed to put on target despite having several decent shots from just outside the penalty area.

The biggest difference between the teams, other than the number of players on the field, was that Croatia managed to get better shots out of their opportunities with four goals and several other blocked or deflected shots. Cameroon lacked either the final pass or an effective shot for most of the game. Perhaps the African squad was missing Eto'o but Aboubakar was impressive in the early goings of the match and in the end there simply was a lack of execution.

Another key point was that the Croatian defense seemed to just get in front of the balls that they needed to. Cameroon made their runs but it seemed just as they were getting close to net, a Croatian defender was there to save the day. The Lions' defense could not replicate the feat leading to some easy finishes for Mandzukic and Perisic.

Croatia's win has officially eliminated Cameroon from the World Cup and set up a pivotal matchup with Mexico next week.

Group A standings:
Brazil 1-0-1 4 points +2 goal differential
Mexico 1-0-1 4 points +1 goal differential
Croatia 1-1-0 3 points +2 goal differential
Cameroon 0-2-0 0 points -5 goal differential: eliminated

The next match ups will be Brazil vs. Cameroon and Croatia vs. Mexico.