Andre Onana set to miss 2023 AFCON after horrific Galatasaray performance?

By Arrey Egbe

Cameroonian international goalkeeper Andre Onana is strongly considering staying out of the 2023 AFCON to keep his number-one position at United, per reports in the UK.

The player is very much affected by a horror show he put up against Galatasaray on Wednesday night in the UEFA Champions League.

The Cameroonian is expected to join Rigobert Song’s squad for the continental jamboree in January. However, according to The Sun, Onana might ditch that plan and continue at Carrington to avoid losing his first place to Turkish goalkeeper, Altay Bayinider.

According to FIFA rules, a player will face sanctions if he rejects a national team call-up. More to that, the rule says that a player cannot represent his club while he is being called up by his country; only his country has the authority to allow him to stay away and play for his club.

If the country refuses to grant permission, FIFA will require the player to stay away from club activities throughout the national team period.

The Manchester United shot-stopper had come under serious criticism for earlier making some schoolboy errors between the sticks. A glaring case includes the match against Bayern Munich and recently Galatasaray in the Champions League which has put his team in a tight spot to make it out of group stage.

After the match, Ten Hag hinted that Bayindir could get his chance soon and urged him to be patient.

“We are pleased with the goalkeeping group. They have to push each other,” the manager told reporters.

“We are very pleased with Altay who is doing very well, he just has to be patient. If he works well and continues his progress, he will get his chance and will have to take it,” he added.

It is clear Onana plans on making amends at the club level but this might cause him to deny an AFCON participation. Again, if Cameroon reaches the final of the competition, the 27-year-old could probably miss six matches in a row for United.

So far, the Red Devils have conceded 33 goals across all competitions this season after their first 20 matches – their worst record since they recorded 43 in the 1962-63 season.

Onana could not prove his critics wrong when United took on Newcastle on Saturday in the Premier League- where they lost 0-1.