20, September 2023
Football: Onana laments poor start as Man Utd crisis deepens 0
Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana said he had let his teammates down after a howler set the tone for a 4-3 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
A third consecutive defeat ramps up the pressure on United manager Erik ten Hag and two late goals from Casemiro masked the gulf in class between the sides at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
However, United had started brightly until Leroy Sane’s strike slipped through Onana’s grasp on 28 minutes.
“After my mistake we lost control of the game. It’s a difficult situation for us, for me especially because I’m the one who let the team down,” Onana told TNT Sports.
The Cameroonian starred for Inter Milan on their run to last season’s Champions League final, but has struggled in the early weeks of his United career since joining in a £47 million ($58 million) move.
The Red Devils have now conceded three or more goals in three consecutive games for the first time since 1978.
“My start in Manchester is not so good, it’s not how I want (to play),” added Onana.
“Today is one of my worst games and it is difficult because we have big ambition, we want to win everything – it was a big opportunity for us to bounce back after the situation we are facing.
“It’s a tough time. We have to be together and learn from our mistakes because it’s the only thing to do.”
United have now lost four of their opening six games of the season for the first time in 37 years.
Downward curve
Ten Hag earned plenty of plaudits for his first season in charge as he led United back into the Champions League and ended a six-year trophy drought by lifting the League Cup.
But his side’s downward curve dates back to the latter part of last season. Since a historic 7-0 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool in March, United have lost eight of their last 12 games away from home in all competitions.
Ten Hag called for character from his side to bounce back from being outplayed on home soil by Brighton 3-1 at the weekend.
Instead, the former Ajax boss will be concerned at how quickly his side crumbled after Onana’s blunder and twice conceded within seconds of getting back into the game.
Serge Gnabry quickly doubled Bayern’s advantage after Jamal Musiala burst through the United defence with ease.
Rasmus Hojlund’s first goal for the club was the big positive of the night for Ten Hag’s men.
But Harry Kane had restored Bayern’s two-goal cushion within five minutes from the penalty spot after Cristian Eriksen was harshly penalised for handball.
Bayern should have then ran up a far more convincing scoreline as they twice hit the woodwork and eased up by bringing off Kane, Sane, Gnabry and Musiala.
Casemiro’s first goal could have provoked a nervy finale had Mathys Tel not been given space to crash in Bayern’s fourth within three minutes.
The Brazilian then headed in his second with virtually the last action of the match.
“When you score three goals at Bayern then you have to at least take a point,” said Ten Hag.
But he was keen to point to a collective failure rather than pointing the blame at Onana.
“If you see the first 25 minutes you have to score, but if not stay in the game. Don’t allow the opponent to score goals like we did. It’s not only about one mistake.”
Source: AFP
29, September 2023
Old CPDM Tricks: Eto’o investigated by police over match-fixing allegations 0
Police in Cameroon have opened an investigation into claims that Samuel Eto’o was part of a match-fixing scandal.
The former Barcelona striker, who has been president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since December 2021, was accused of helping to fix matches in Cameroon’s second tier in July after a recording of him speaking to someone alleged to be Valentine Nkwain, the president of Victoria United and known as ‘Bobdidy’, was made public. According to Camfoot, Eto’o allegedly promised to promote the club from the second division by manipulating matches – a claim denied by the former striker and by Nkwain, who has said it was not his voice on the recording.
Police have confirmed in a letter, seen by the Guardian, that they have opened an investigation into alleged “abuse of authority and corruption”. They are understood to have interviewed several key witnesses involved in the case. The investigation will also look into wider accusations of corruption at Fecafoot during Eto’o’s tenure, which it is believed could involve up to 40 people.
On the recording, Eto’o is alleged to have informed Nkwain that “there are things we can do” regarding a game in which Victoria were beaten 1-0 in December last year “but you have to be very discreet, brother”. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you your three points and we will suspend the referee,” he is alleged to have said. “Opopo [Victoria’s nickname] must go up to the first division. This is our goal. This is our federation. Victoria United will go up.” Victoria went on to be promoted in April.
Eto’o told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in June that he had been “talking to a friend, someone who invests in football and wants to make his club one of the best in Cameroon”. He said: “I just reassured him by saying that I would have done everything possible to avoid any refereeing errors against him.”
The news comes after a group of Cameroon’s football officials called on Fifa to take action against Eto’o after a series of public incidents, including a “violent altercation” with an Algerian journalist at the World Cup in Qatar last year. The group – which includes Pierre Semengue, president of the Professional Football League of Cameroon – have written a letter jointly addressing Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Patrice Motsepe, questioning how the former striker has been allowed to continue “to illegally impose himself on the Fecafoot presidency”.
An investigation into “certain alleged improper conduct” of Eto’o was opened by CAF in early August but no action has been taken.
“Not a word has been heard from Fifa,” the letter reads, “despite numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors. How can Fifa continue to remain silent in the face of so many scandals that compromise public confidence in sporting ethics and the sincerity of matches?”
The letter was also critical of Infantino after he and Eto’o were pictured together earlier this month in France to discuss “football development”.
“The sad reality … is that Africa remains a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody,” the letter says. “Can you imagine Fifa and Uefa remaining silent when the president of a European football federation is suspected of match-fixing, with audio recordings to back it up?”
Source: Guardian