Andre Onana displayed his strong character despite his disappointing drop to the Cameroon bench in this evening’s dramatic Africa Cup of Nations win against The Gambia. Onana made his leadership felt from the sidelines as Cameroon crept into the last 16 by triumphing late in a rollercoaster clash in the Ivory Coast.
Rigobert Song sprung a surprise by snubbing the Manchester United goalkeeper for his cousin, Fabrice Ondoa, at the Stade Bouake.
Onana missed Cameroon’s opening 1-1 draw against Guinea after featuring in United’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur a day earlier.
He started against Senegal but failed to make a single save in a 3-1 defeat, and Ondoa replaced him in the third Group C game.
The Gambia and Cameroon continued the chaotic theme of the AFCON group stage by playing out an entertaining five-goal thriller that included an incredible climax.
Karl Toko Ekambi fired Song’s side into the lead just before the hour mark before Ablie Jallow and Ebrima Colley’s goals sensationally turned the game on its head in the 85th minute.
Cameroon looked destined to finish rock-bottom of Group C for all of two minutes when James Gomez netted an own goal to level the clash at 2-2 and set up a tense nine minutes of stoppage time.
Cameras then spotted Onana rallying his team-mates from the sideline with a passionate, serious look on his face.
It’s an act of character that United have grown used to and welcomed this season, one of the positive signs of a disappointing start to his £47million transfer from Inter Milan.
And Cameroon responded, netting a third to flip the game again in the 91st minute through Christopher Wooh, sparking incredible celebrations between players, coaches and fans.
There looked to be a dagger to the Indomitable Lions’ hearts in the 95th minute when Muhammed Sanneh incredibly poked The Gambia level to send the former back down to third below Guinea.
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