Why GoalKeeper Andre Onana Was Dropped For Serbia Clash By Cameroon Coach Rigobert Song.

Cameroon goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has been left out of his team’s crucial World Cup clash with Serbia on Monday afternoon, just hours before the kick-off at Al Janoub stadium.

The 26-year-old shotstopper wasn't just left out of the starting 11, but the entire matchday squad, as he is reportedly dismissed for disciplinary reasons, without specifying the reason or duration of the dismissal.

This comes as a shock, as the Inter Milan goalkeeper recently played the full 90 minutes in the Indomitable Lions' World Cup opening game narrow 1-0 defeat to Switzerland last week and was in contention to start for their vital clash today against Serbia. 

Though Onana's dismissal is believed to have come after he was involved in a shouting match with head coach Rigobert Song over his style of play and the team's tactics. 

Sources claims that, Onana believes his relationship with the team is 'irreversible' despite legendary striker Samuel Eto'o undergoing mediate peace talks between the two parties.

There have also been suggestions from Marca that Onana refused to change his playing style after being asked to become more “traditional”. Song was angered at Onana during a training session for taking too many risks playing with his feet.

The dismissal will be a blow to the African nation's ambitions of progressing through the World Cup knock-out stage for the first time since 1990.

However, Onana has been replaced by reserved goalkeeper Devis Epassy who plays for Abha in Saudi Arabia.

The 29-year-old was named in the starting XI for the first time since October 2021, and would be making his sixth appearance for his country.

Onana has 34 caps for his country, he was a starter at the African Cup of Nations in January-February earlier this year, where Cameroon finished third.

He signed for Serie A team Inter Milan as a free agent in the summer after not playing much for Dutch outfit Ajax following his nine-month doping ban last year.

At Inter, coach Simone Inzaghi initially alternated between Samir Handanovic and Onana, with the Slovenian playing in the Italian league and the Cameroonian in the Champions League, before the Indomitable Lion established himself as a regular starter from October in both competitions.

Cameroon will be eliminated from the World Cup with one game to spare if they lose thier Group second game to Serbia and Brazil avoid defeat against the Swiss later on Monday.

As of the time of writing, the game against Serbia itself provided a frenzy period of play in the first half that saw Strahinja Palovic cancelled out defender's Jean-Charles Castelletto 29th minute opener, and two minutes later Sergej Milinkovic-Savic doubled the lead for the Serbian in added time (45+3 minute), as the first half ended 2-1.

Cameroon face Brazil in their last group game on Friday, December 2nd.