A clash occurred between Andre Onana and Samuel Eto’o following the decision to bench the Manchester United goalkeeper for Cameroon’s vital Africa Cup of Nations group match on Tuesday.
Onana had skipped Cameroon’s AFCON opener, choosing to extend his commitment to United and join the national team only on the day their tournament commenced last week.
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Despite being reinstated for Cameroon’s second group game, the United goalkeeper’s subpar performance contributed to his team’s 3-1 defeat against Senegal.
Subsequently, he found himself on the bench for Cameroon’s last Group C game against Gambia. Head coach Rigobert Song chose to grant Fabrice Ondoa, Onana’s cousin, his second start of the tournament.
Reports suggested that Onana was angered by being excluded from the starting eleven and was involved in a confrontation with Eto’o, the president of Cameroon’s Football Federation, prior to the match.
‘It was Song who decided to change the goalkeepers and put Ondoa back as No.1 following a meeting with players from the team,’ a source close to the Cameroon squad told Sports News Africa.
‘It was only this morning that he found out he wasn’t playing. He had a verbal altercation with Eto’o, but the latter did not respond to him.
‘Onana lost his temper on his own before calming down and remaining in the group to accept his fate.’
Cameroon secured a 3-2 victory against Gambia, securing a second-place finish in Group C. This positions them for a last-16 stage showdown against Nigeria on Saturday.
Onana has faced considerable criticism for his delayed decision to join Cameroon’s squad for the AFCON campaign.
Speaking last week, former Arsenal, Tottenham and Man City striker Emmanuel Adebayor said: ‘He [Onana] did not respect Cameroon. I was a player like him, and even being the most important player in my selection, I never acted in this way [arriving on the day of the match].
‘The fact that this situation is happening shows that there is a problem, perhaps even within the federation.
‘He risks losing big, because he has alienated the Cameroonian supporters, as well as many African supporters and undoubtedly certain members of the team.’
