For the final phase of the Ivory Coast CAN which begins on January 13, 2024, the Cameroonian international goalkeeper in the best shape, André Onana, is currently between a rock and a hard place.
The availability of the Cameroonian goalkeeper one day before the first of the indomitable lions at the CAN has caused a lot of ink and saliva to flow. Cameroonians do not know how to be patient.
Announcement relayed on the lions page. C: Badal Fohmoh
Facts are stubborn, history repeats itself. Except that Cameroonians don’t like to think before speaking. They are champions at reacting under the influence of emotion. Even if I wasn’t in this world yet, at least I know a few bits of some of the stories. Speaking of the fact thatDrunk must play the match against Tottenham the day before that of Cameroon against Guinea, I have searched and I allow myself to share my opinion after this search.
Read alsoi: Ngadeu, comme Canto et Ginola
Cases like that of Onana have been legion in the national team. But the Cameroonians do not want to understand anything. And as usual, they cry about lack of respect, contempt… but, at the 1988 African Cup of Nations in Morocco, Joseph Antoine Bell went back and forth between the den of lions and that of Marseille.
Then one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, he was torn between two teams. Olympique de Marseille, his professional club in France, had selected him for a decisive match scheduled after the start of the CAN and the Cameroon selection needed its goalkeeper in the best shape for the final phase of the CAN. After an agreement with all parties, Bell Joseph Antoine finally opted to play with OM before joining the Indomitable Lions. As a result, Cameroon begins the CAN against Egypt with replacement goalkeeper Jacques Songo’o. Then, Joseph Antoine Bell, joined the den before the second match, regained his starting position until the final coronation…Four years before, during the 1984 CAN in Ivory Coast, Thomas Nkono was forced to abandon the Cameroon national team and return to Spain to play a crucial match for his professional club. Joseph Antoine Bell had successfully kept the cages of the Indomitable Lions, future African champion for the first time…
Read also: André Onana, between Fecafoot and Inter Milan
Beaten in Zaire in May 1981, after a first leg match in the penultimate round of qualifying for the 1982 Cameroon Cup Spain, Cameroon, which needed all its best players for the return match in Douala, had granted permission to its most formidable attacker, Roger Milla, to play a Coupe de France final with Bastia on Friday, before joining Cameroon 24 hours later for the decisive match against Zaire (victory/Qualification of Cameroon on the score of six goals to one, with four goals from Roger Milla).
These are just a few examples among many others (some more recent) of how a senior player can join his national team a little later than his teammates for a major competition without profoundly disrupting the balance of the group.
His professional club, Manchester United, asked him to postpone his departure for the national team, while he played a few important matches in England. The Cameroon national team needs its 27 players including André Onana, in Saudi Arabia, for his pre-CAN training course.
Onana and her trainer Erik Ten Hag. C: Cfoot
In order to reconcile his livelihood and love of the homeland, André Onana negotiated with Fecafoot and the staff of the Indomitable Lions to join the national team directly in Yamoussoukro shortly before Cameroon’s first match against Guinea.
André Onana’s request is causing a lot of talk on the web. Some compatriots question his patriotism. Wrongly, in my humble opinion because a player who arrives late due to credible excuses does not necessarily penalize his national team. We saw this with the cases of the illustrious predecessors of André Onana mentioned above.
Onana will participate in Manchester United-Tottenham on January 14
Despite this extremely delicate situation, David Ornstein reports that the Cameroonian Federation accepted this request. It remains to be seen whether Onana will be able to string together two matches so far apart geographically. Which would be an achievement in itself, because more than 5,000 kilometers separate Old Trafford, the Red Devils venue, where the Premier League clash will be played (5:30 p.m.), and the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro, the setting for the first meeting. of the Indomitable Lions at the CAN (6:00 p.m.).
André Onana will have to use all his mental and physical strength to play – and perform well – in two matches in two days. If Cameroon reach the final of the competition on February 11, Onana will miss Manchester United’s Premier League meetings with Wolves, West Ham and Aston Villa, as well as a possible FA Cup fourth round clash if they advance past Wigan.
Betting announcement on the social networks of the media ESPN UK
Otherwise, I wonder what is bothering Cameroonians: is it Onana’s person or the fittest player character?
In short, just wait and see. Until then, the Indomitable Lions are still in pre-CAN training in Saudi Arabia where this very Thursday, the den will see the arrival of team captain Vincent Aboubakar.
We’ll talk again soon, Badal.
C:Badal Fohmoh