Explained: Why Man Utd goalkeeper Andre Onana is missing Cameroon’s AFCON opener against Guinea
Andre Onana joined the Cameroon national team on Monday but has been left out of their matchday squad against Guinea.
WHAT HAPPENED?: The goalkeeper featured in Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday which ended in a 2-2 draw and immediately jetted off to report for national team duty. But his arrival at Yamoussoukro was delayed after poor weather conditions forced the flight to take a detour and land in Abidjan, according to Onana’s delayed arrival forced manager Rigobert Song to omit him from the matchday squad of their AFCON opener.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The 27 year old had informed the Indomitable Lions beforehand that he would take the field against Spurs on Sunday and join the squad less than 24 hours before their tournament opener. The decision was even approved by Cameroon FA chief Samuel Eto’o. In the United star’s absence, Fabric Ondoa has been included in the team’s starting lineup against Guinea.
DID YOU KNOW?: There is a possibility that the former Inter custodian might not miss even a single domestic game for Premier League giants if Cameroon fail to progress beyond the group stage. Their final group game will be on January 23 which means that the player will be back at his club before their next fixture which is an FA Cup fourth-round clash on January 28.
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“I think Olivier Giroud. Every time, you think you’ve got a hold of him, that you’ve got him well marked, but he always manages to score in one way or another: with his head, his foot, his knee. He has often scored against me.”
THE ROLE PLAYED BY El Hadji Diouf FOR ONANA
El Hadji Diouf just has to find a way to calm Onana down as he’s not happy with the decision not be part of the team today. Told: Song didn’t even have a word with Onana when he arrived in camp. He decided to keep Onana away and not let him be part of the team today. Took El Hadji Diouf to get to Onana and explain things to him.
