Ahead of their pivotal African Cup of Nations match against Gambia, Cameroon has benched ANDRE ONANA.

The 27-year-old goalkeeper for Manchester United arrived late to the Cameroon team.

Cameroon has benched Andre Onana for their crucial Afcon match against Gambia.

Andre Onana motivating his teammates from Cameroon

Onana was outstanding in his country’s second group stage match against Senegal, following his absence from their opening match, a 1-1 draw with Guinea.

The defending Afcon winners, nevertheless, demonstrated their clinical advantage by scoring on all three of their attempts that found the target.

The Indomitable Lions are currently facing elimination in the group stage as a result of the outcome.

To try and secure Cameroon’s advancement into the knockout stages, manager Rigobert Song has taken dramatic measures, benching Onana in favor of French third-tier goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa.

Ondoa was a player with the 15th-place Nimes Olympique in the French National League.

In addition, the 28-year-old is Onana’s cousin.

Onana was earlier cut by Coach Song from their World Cup squad in Qatar due to a disagreement about the team’s style of play.

Onana was reportedly furious because he wasn’t included in the starting eleven for the match against Gambia. He got into a fight with Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, even before the game. According to a someone close to the Cameroon squad, Sports News Africa:

Song spoke with the team’s players and made the decision to swap out the goalkeeper and move Ondoa back to the top spot. Onana didn’t understand she wasn’t the primary starter until this morning. He and Eto’o got into a verbal altercation. Before gathering her composure and staying with the group to face her fate, Onana lost her rage as well.

But Onana had no intention of feeling sorry for himself. He was spotted supporting his teammates during the game as they tried to get the outcome they required to qualify for the competition.

Cameroon was aware going into the game that a draw would not be sufficient to advance them automatically.

The nation’s chances of qualifying for the Afcon were slim moving into the last minutes, but they pulled off a thrilling comeback to win the match 3-2, with Christopher Wooh scoring the game-winning goal in injury time.

Additionally, Cameroon overcame Guinea automatically on goals scored when Senegal defeated Guinea 2-0.

Onana would have miraculously finished the tournament without making a single save if Cameroon had lost.