A video leaked online shows Cameroon boss Rigobert Song explaining why Inter keeper André Onana was dropped for the World Cup match against Serbia.
Onana, 26, played Cameroon’s opening match at Qatar 2022 against Switzerland but was dropped for the second meeting with Serbia due to technical disagreements with Cameroon CT Song.
Onana, who joined Inter in the summer on a free transfer from Ajax, was suspended by his national team and left Qatar before the final match in the group stage against Brazil.
A video leaked online, whose content has been reported by all Italian media, appears to show the real reason why Onana was dropped, with Song explaining what led to the conflict step by step.
“The day of the game with Serbia I told Onana that I needed to talk to him and he started crying,” said Song.
“I told him: ‘I don’t have time to discuss these issues. I called you yesterday and you didn’t talk to me. I had chats with Aboubakar, Choupo-Moting and Anguissa, who are the most representative players in the team; why shouldn’t I talk to you?’
“Onana puts on a show in training but takes too many risks during games,” continued the Cameroon coach.
“I told him repeatedly: ‘You should take no risks. Pass the ball wide, not in the middle.’ He told me: ‘I am playing, I don’t have time to talk to you.’ When he was at the hotel, he didn’t talk to me, but went to President Samuel [Eto’o] and he sent him I don’t know where.”
It is still unclear who Song was talking to, but it was somebody inside his office.
The former Salernitana defender commented on the video leaked online without his permission, saying that he “had to decide for the team’s good, given that his honour as Cameroon’s CT had been broken.”
Onana has made 13 appearances with Inter this season, keeping five clean sheets.