There's no 'I' in 'team' - and there's no team without defence

There was a strong sense of deja vu at Stadium 974 in Doha on Friday night as Switzerland beat Serbia to send them home from the World Cup - just like they've done four years ago. And just like it was in 2018, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored in vain as the Serbian defence leaked goals in crucial moments, rendering their attacking potential pointless.

In the end, Switzerland beat the Serbs 3-2 to join Brazil in the second round, while Dragan Stojkovic and his team head home, just like Cameroon.

It was an entertaining match, full of comebacks and action - well it was entertaining unless you're a Serbia fan.

Serbia conceded two goals against Brazil, three against Cameroon so they knew that they'd have to improve their defensive work to stand any chance of beating Switzerland to a place in the knockout round. But they failed to do so.

Less than 60 seconds into the game, the Swiss have had two shots on target and should have opened the scoring. But Xherdan Shaqiri, Serbia's old nemesis, found the net once again when he was left all alone in the area, firing in via a deflection off defender Strahinja Pavlovic.

Serbia may have a terrible defence, but they certainly don't lack in firepower upfront. A fantastic header from Fulham's target man Aleksandar Mitrovic and a well-taken low finish from Juventus' striker Dusan Vlahovic turned the game around for the Eagles with ten minutes left in the first half.

At that point, the Serbs were desperate to keep their lead at the break and regroup. But they were always going to concede more and were punished by the Cameroonian-born Breel Embolo tucked the ball in behind Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to level.

Serbian suicidal defending was exposed once more barely two minutes after the restart. Ruben Vargas played a lovely backheel flick-on into the patch of Remo Freuler to restore the lead for Murat Yakin's team.

There was 45 minutes left in the game, but it felt as good as over there and then. Serbia never looked like getting back into the game and only had a couple of weak penalty shouts that amounted to nothing. The Swiss, on the other hand, used their experience and controlled the match with ease to seal the second spot and set up a last 16 meeting with Portugal.

Having talented goalscorers really is a blessing, but not having the defensive discipline to back that talent up is a crime against the beautiful game. Serbia is guilty of it.

WORLD CUP

Group G

Friday

Serbia - Switzerland 2-3 (2-2)

/Mitrovic 26, Vlahovic 35 - Shaqiri 20, Embolo 44, Freuler 48/

Cameroon - Brazil 1-0 (0-0)

/Aboubakar 90+3/