Dirty TackleAlex Song elbows Mario Mandzukic in the back for some reason, gets sent off
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Down 1-0 to Croatia, Cameroon's Alex Song decided to elbow Mario Mandzukic in the back after bumping into him while not looking where he was going. This was obviously a strange choice and one the referee punished with a red card in the 40th minute.
With Cameroon down to 10 men, Croatia went on to extend their lead with three more goals — including two from Mandzukic and his achy back. Croatia won 4-0, making Cameroon the third team to be eliminated from the 2014 World Cup after Australia and 2010 champions Spain.
It remains unclear why Song thought an elbow in the back was a good idea, but maybe he wanted to carry on the Song family tradition of getting sent off in World Cup matches started by his uncle Rigobert, who saw red in 1994 and 1998.
Cameroon suffered another odd lashing out near the end of the match when defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto headbutted (or angrily head nudged) his own teammate, Benjamin Moukandjo. It was supremely strange, but not entirely out of character for the temperamental defender. The incident went unnoticed by the referee, but required intervention from the other Cameroon players, including injured captain Samuel Eto'o.
Though Cameroon's final group match is now meaningless for them, it could still be interesting given the inexplicable events of this match.
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