Andre Onana’s AFCON absence explained

Cameroonian national team coach Rigobert Song has explained the rationale behind dropping Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana in the Indomitable Lions’ 1-1 draw against Guinea on Monday.

Onana chose to stay behind to play Manchester United’s Premier League game against Tottenham on Sunday and travel to Ivory Coast on a private jet, only to be disappointed.

The former Inter Milan man was shown visibly vexed, lamenting his ordeal, taking a private jet to Ivory Coast only to be benched while talking to Senegalese legend El Hadji Diouf, who tried to calm him down.

However, Cameroon’s head coach Rigobert Song, while assessing the 1-1 draw with Guinea in the opening group stage game, restated that Onana was never going to play after arriving late to camp but still remains a part of the team.

“No, Andre [Onana], we all know that [he wouldn’t play]. We need to stick to our logic. He arrived at 4 am; how do you expect him to play at 5 pm? He is part of the group. So he is part of the squad. There is the rest of the competition, and I’m sticking with my full squad. The start of the match was difficult for us, especially in the first 30 minutes. You know how it has been at the start of this tournament. It has always been difficult. We saw how some teams started this tournament.” Song said.

Onana’s cousin, Fabrice Ondoa, kept for Cameroon in the game, but it’s unknown if he will retain the shirt for the second group stage game against Senegal on Friday or if Onana will get his first start at the Nations Cup in Ivory Coast.

Senegal started their title defense by beating The Gambia 3-0 on Monday as well, but they will face stiffer opposition in the Cameroonians, although they were unable to beat Guinea in the opener.