Media reports stated that Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana withdrew from the camp of the national team participating in the 2022 World Cup after a dispute with coach Rigobert Song before the Serbia match in the second round of Group G.
Song used goalkeeper Davis Ibasi, the Saudi Abha goalkeeper, to participate in today’s match against Serbia, instead of Andre Onana, the Italian goalkeeper of Inter Milan, after the latter left the “Untamed Lions” camp.
According to media sources, the dispute broke out between the coach and the goalkeeper after Cameroon's first match in the World Cup, which ended with a loss against Switzerland with a single goal.
Song was not satisfied with Onana's performance, and criticized him for his playing style, which carries a lot of risk at his discretion, and decided not to rely on the Inter Milan goalkeeper and keep him on the bench in the Serbia match.
Onana, 26, did not accept his coach's criticism, and preferred to withdraw from the national team camp and leave, in order to avoid widening the dispute and affecting the preparations of his colleagues.
And the French "RMC" website stated that Samuel Eto'o, the former top scorer and current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, tried to take advantage of the special relationship that binds him to Onana in order to mediate to resolve the dispute with the coach, but he did not succeed in that.