Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana was dropped for Monday’s crucial clash with Serbia, going on to leave the World Cup permanently over a reported clash with his coach.
A football federation source told AFP hours before kick-off at Al Janoub stadium that Inter Milan ‘keeper Onana had been left out of the Group G fixture for unspecified disciplinary reasons, and the 26-year-old didn’t even have a spot on the bench.
Prominent football reporter Fabrizio Romano claimed that Onana’s coach “insisted” on a “different style of goalkeeping” that was “more traditional”.
“Onana has no intention to change his style — tense situation & so he’s been excluded,” Romano added.
It was later reported that Onana had left the World Cup and would not be returning, but coach Rigobert Song said Onana could still play in Cameroon’s final World Cup group game with Brazil despite being banished from the squad for Monday’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Serbia.
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Onana, who has 34 caps for his country and played in Cameroon’s opening 1-0 defeat to Switzerland last week, was replaced by Devis Epassy who plays for Abha in Saudi Arabia.
He signed for Serie A team Inter as a free agent in the summer after not playing much for Ajax following his nine-month doping ban last year.
Cameroon felt the impact of Onana’s absence in their draw with Serbia on Monday night, conceding a goal to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic which their first-choice keeper would have been a good chance of saving.
“This is the one where you are thinking that Onana is going to get a strong hand on that,” Craig Foster said on SBS.
“It has cost them.”
However Song said that Onana has not been completely dismissed from contention for the Brazil match, saying that “it depends on him” whether he will be brought back into the fold but not saying what had caused the row.
“He is an important player but what I have to do in my role is think about the group as a whole rather than just individuals,” Song told reporters.
“Right now we are working with those who want to defend the our country’s colours, what interests me are the players who are here.
“I’ve asked him to wait, we will have the opportunity to see if he can stay (at the World Cup). It also depends on him as he will also have to obey our rules. Let’s see if that’s possible.”
Cameroon have to beat Brazil in order to progress to the knockout stages for the first time since 1990 and Song believes his team have what it takes to defeat the five-time world champions.
“We believe we can do it against Brazil,” Song added.
“We didn’t come to the World Cup to just make up the numbers, to take part. We think we can still have a say in the tournament even if we know Brazil are a great team.”
REPORT:
Cameroon kept their hopes of making the last 16 of the World Cup alive on Monday after fighting back from two goals down to draw a thrilling Group G encounter with Serbia 3-3.
Rigobert Song’s team looked almost dead and buried after goals from Strahinja Pavlovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Serbia a 3-1 lead early in the second half.
But substitute Vincent Aboubakar and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting snatched a draw with two quick-fire strikes just after the hour mark to leave both Cameroon and Serbia on a single point, two behind group leaders Brazil and Switzerland.
Had they lost, Cameroon would have been relying on the Swiss beating Brazil in order to not be eliminated with a game to spare, but instead the west Africans still have a chance of getting out of the group stage for the first time since 1990.
Mitrovic was almost invisible in Serbia’s defeat to Brazil but here he was involved from kick-off, the Fulham forward unlucky not to give Serbia the lead in the 11th minute when he crashed a shot off the post from a tight angle following a neat exchange of passes with Dusan Tadic.
But Mitrovic only had himself to blame for not opening the scoring six minutes later, shanking an awful first-time finish wide when, after a mix-up in the Cameroon defence, the ball dropped at his feet with only Epassy to beat.
And Jean-Charles Castelletto punished the Serbs for Mitrovic’s miss in the 29th minute with the simplest of finishes after ghosting in at the back post to meet Nicolas Nkoulou’s flick-on at a corner.
Pierre Kunde then passed up a golden opportunity to double Cameroon’s lead in the 43rd minute and it was Cameroon’s turn to be undone at a set-piece when Pavlovic brilliantly headed home Tadic’s floated free-kick.
Serbia’s tails were up and Milinkovic-Savic flipped the match on its head two minutes later with a superb left-footed finish after Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa sloppily gave the ball away just outside his own penalty area.
Mitrovic finally had the goal his strong display deserved seven minutes after the break, tapping in Andrija Zivkovic’s pass unopposed at the end of a beautiful move guided by Milinkovic-Savic and Tadic.
The match looked over but from nowhere Cameroon sprang back into life thanks to Aboubakar’s odd goal.
The Al Nassr forward raced through onto Castelletto’s launched pass over the top and scooped an improbable finish over the Serbia ‘keeper, beaming with delight after his goal was awarded following a VAR check.
Aboubakar’s pace caused Serbia all kinds of problems and he laid on Choupo-Moting’s leveller, bursting down the right and laying on a simple finish for the Bayern Munich forward which sparked wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Neither side could find a winner in an end-to-end finish to the game and their bids to make the knockouts will go down to the final game.
