ANDRE ONANA may have shot himself in the foot by jetting to the Africa Cup of Nations late in order to continue playing for Manchester United.
The goalkeeper received special dispensation from the Cameroon FA in order to play against Tottenham on Sunday.
RexOnana flew 5,000 miles to try and make it for his side’s opener against Guinea[/caption]
AFPAnd despite making it to the game in the nick of time, was left out of the squad and replaced by his cousin Fabrice Ondoa[/caption]
The initial plan was that he would then jet immediately to the Ivory Coast in order to play Cameroon’s Afcon opener against Guinea the very next day.
But once he reached the Ivory Coast, his plane for the last leg of his journey was blocked due to bad weather, making him late to link up with the squad for in Yamoussoukro.
While he did reach the at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in time for kick off, he was left out of the squad entirely, much to his fury according to reports.
The keeper was heard asking Liverpool legend El-Hadj Diouf why he had even bothered charting a private jet to make it for the game if he was going to be left out of the squad anyway.
And with Onana left out of the squad, his cousin, Fabrice Ondoa that was brought in as Cameroon’s no1.
And despite Ondoa, 28, playing in the French third tier for Nimes, he now has far more caps for Cameroon compared to Onana.
Ondoa boasts 49 total appearances while Onana has 37.
And the 28-year-old has proved himself an able deputy for his cousin in the past, stepping in when Onana temporarily retired from international duty last year.
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The United stopper retired after a fallout with coach Rigobert Song at the World Cup in 2022 when he was told to kick the ball long rather than pass the ball out from the back.
Like Onana, Ondoa started his career at Barcelona in the Samuel Eto’o academy but his career has been far more nomadic – playing for clubs in Belgium, Croatia and Latvia.
He is yet to make an appearance for Nimes this season.
Onana will be needed for a tough game on Friday against Afcon holders Senegal, who are among the favourites to retain their title.