The crisis is escalating between the president of FECAFOOT, Samuel Eto’o, and goalkeeper André Onana. After Cameroon’s elimination from the 2023 AFCON, a major altercation is said to have taken place in the dressing room between the two men.
Cameroon is set to face tumultuous days. Arriving at the 2023 AFCON with the goal of achieving a performance that meets expectations, the Indomitable Lions were tamed by most of the opposing teams. After securing a qualification for the round of 16 in the final minutes of the third group stage match against Gambia, the team led by Rigobert Song fell to a new low against Nigeria this Saturday. Without André Onana, who was once again on the bench, the Cameroonians displayed a very sad face under the gaze of Samuel Eto’o in the stands.
A new clash between Eto’o and Onana
After a match well-controlled by Nigeria, Cameroon lost 2-0 without registering a single shot on target during the game. Following this defeat, tension was palpable in the Cameroon dressing room, where André Onana and Samuel Eto’o are reported to have heated exchanges. Indeed, according to information from Senegalese journalist Malang Sané, citing a Cameroonian colleague, the atmosphere between the president of FECAFOOT and the goalkeeper from Manchester United was not good at all.
“After the elimination of the Indomitable Lions, there was a very heated debate in their dressing room yesterday between Eto’o and Onana. In fact, Eto’o would have asked the players to all return to Cameroon before going back to their respective clubs, which Onana refused and stated, ‘Let everyone go back as they came.’ At the time these lines are written, Onana is flying to Manchester United,” Malang reported on his X (Twitter) account this Sunday.
Onana towards a new retirement?
This is not the first time we hear about altercations between the 27-year-old Cameroonian goalkeeper and the head of FECAFOOT. Indeed, before the match against Gambia where the United goalkeeper was relegated to the bench, André Onana had expressed his displeasure against the former Barcelona striker. Presumably, feeling that the latter is behind his situation, he raised his voice before calming down and accepting his fate for the cohesion within the rest of the group.
In that match that the Indomitable Lions won by sheer determination, the former Inter Milan goalkeeper showed a strong commitment to the group’s cause and rallied his teammates on the field. Against Nigeria, the verdict will be applied again with Onana on the bench, finishing the 2023 AFCON as the goalkeeper with the lowest save percentage in the competition. Arriving as one of the best goalkeepers in Africa, he leaves with only one match played out of four, conceding three goals on three shots on target.
With the new revelation about his abrupt return to his club and the altercation with Eto’o, the future of the goalkeeper in the national team looks bleak. After the match against Guinea, he even promised to settle scores; we await his statement.
Samuel Eto’o, the problem?
As for the head of the Cameroonian Football Federation, things are not improving. According to Actu Cameroun, several members of the technical staff are preparing to resign, excluding Rigobert Song, who still clings to his position. According to the news, they would be very upset with Eto’o for his interference in their work, especially in the technical and tactical management of the team. Already suspected of being behind the sidelining of Onana and Choupo-Moting, who did not play in the AFCON, it would be a new setback for the former Chelsea player.
We await to see the continuation of these degrading sagas for Cameroonian football.
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