Cameroon-Burundi : André Onana Is Back

The wait is over. One of the world’s finest goalkeepers at the moment, André Onana who plies his trade for English side, Manchester United is back in the Lion’s den. He is part of the 24-man squad made public during a press conference granted by Head Coach Rigobert Song yesterday August 29, 2023 at the FECAFOOT Technical Centre in Odza. The squad is expected to defend the colours of Cameroon in the crucial game against Burundi on September 12, 2023 at the Roumdé Adjia Stadium in Garoua, counting for the sixth and last playing day of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. 
Since the incident in Qatar that led to the eviction and eventual retirement of André Onana from international football in December 2022, he had not been called up again. But Head Coach Rigobert Song did not fail to mention each time he was questioned about the absence of the player that “the doors of the national team are open”. Yesterday at the press conference, he made a similar statement when he was questioned on the return of Onana. “There has never been a problem and I said in the previous press conference that all depended on Onana and he knew what he had to do. If he is part of the list, he has done what he had to do and today he is one of the best goalkeepers,” Coach Rigobert Song explained. Onana who is at the peak of his career is accompanied in this compartment by Fabrice Ondoa who regrettable is without a club and Devis Epassy who has been inactive in his Ahba club in Saudi Arabia. 

Clinton Njie, Others Return
Apart from Onana, another major come-back in the Lion’s den is Clinton Njie. This is thanks to his recent fine form in Turkish side, Sivasspor, “I have often said that the door is open to everyone,” Song noted before adding that “looking at his recent statistics, he is a good attacker and merits to be part of the squad”. It should be recalled that Clinton Njie last featured in the Lion’s squad during the 2021 AFCON on home soil where he missed a crucial penalty that contributed to Cameroon losing the semi-finals game to Egypt on February 3, 2022. We equally note the return of Harold Moukoudi, Gael Ondoua, amongst others.

Choupo-Moting present despite all!
Before the press conference yesterday, many doubted the call up of ace attacker Choupo-Moting. This is due to his inconsistency and injury in his Bayern Munich German outfit recently. But Rigobert Song believes in his experience and the input he can bring to the group. “We remain in continuity. Maxim is an experienced player. He masters the milieu and has been following up the project for a while now. It is true that he does not play often of recent but I privileged his maturity,” Coach Rigobert Song justified Choupo-Moting’s call up. What is interesting in this attacking compartment is that all the major players amongst which captain, Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko Ekambi, Brian Mbeumo were called up.

Glaring Absences
Names that have hardly shifted since Rigobert Song took over as Head Coach of the Indomitable Lions has done so this time. Remarkably are defenders Collins Fai and Nicolas Nkoulou, whose absences could be justified by the fact that they have no club. Jean-Charles Castelletto’s absence could be linked to his suspension after accumulation of several yellow cards. Other glaring names like Kunde Malong, Martin Hongla amongst others are absent. Rigobert Song was not questioned on these absences but he stated that he is interested in winning and wants an apt team that will give him this result. 

Why Garoua
When it became official that the Lions will play the crucial game against Burundi in Garoua, fans began gnashing their teeth on why it was moved to that site in favour of other sites like the Yaounde Omnisports Stadium that is said to bring good tidings to the nation. When Coach Rigobert Song was questioned on this, he answered with another question “Garoua is found in which country?” The general answer was Cameroon and Song took it from there to state that the National Team represents the country and that they can play ...