“The coach called me and said, ‘After the World Cup, you will stop playing for the national team’ – Vincent Aboubakar
Vincent Aboubakar 🗣
“… It is people who complicate things.
Let’s talk about the World Cup. They had already decided to put me on the bench. The coach called me and said, “After the World Cup, you will stop playing for the national team,” and things like that. So, they already had a clear idea of what they wanted to do.
But I told myself, “It’s okay.” The national team is not my home. I am only passing through, which means that one day, I may be asked to leave.
I accepted that reality from the very first day I joined the national team. Therefore, leaving the national team one day cannot come as a surprise to me. Even leaving football—or leaving this life and dy¡ng—is a reality. We may not want it to happen, but there are certain things we cannot control.
Before the match against Panama, everything started. People said I had missed too many chances. When Choupo came in he scored. The coach Rigo called me, and they decided to put me on the bench.
They played the opening match against Switzerland, and afterwards, people started saying, ‘If Aboubakar had started against Switzerland, perhaps Cameroon could have qualified.’
I prepared myself very well for the second match against Serbia because I knew I would have more playing time.
Regarding my goal against Serbia, when I was watching the match from the bench, I told my teammate, if I come in, I need just 15 minutes to score because I’ve understood their defence.
When I came in, I launched the counterattack, I saw the defender approaching at full speed. I knew I couldn’t continue running forward, so I made a little turn.
The goalkeeper was very tall. I thought, “The only move I can make to get the ball over him is to chip it.” So, I took the shot. As soon as I saw the ball go over him, I knew it had gone in.
Then I looked at the referee and saw that the assistant had raised his flag. That killed the emotion a little; the celebration was no longer the same.
But after the VAR review, they confirmed that it was a goal. That was the moment my World Cup truly began”
-nexdimempire