Joël Matip,international Cameroonian
This is what some Western media believe to justify the refusal of the Cameroonian defender to respond to the call of the national coach of Cameroon for the AFCON 2017.
Joël Matip was recently summoned to the list of 35 pre-selected of Hugo Broos for the AFCON 2017 which will be played in Gabon next January. After a telephone conversation between the two men, the player declined the call, evoking “bad experience with the previous technical staff,” according to a statement by Hugo Broos.
The coach then indicated that Joel Matip, along with six other players who refused the selection, wants to “privilege his personal interest to the detriment of the national selection in which he has already evolved. The Cameroon Football Federation reserves the right to take actions against these players in accordance with FIFA regulations. “
It must be said that Joel Matip is author of an excellent start to the season with Liverpool and is now the favorite of fans of the Reds. For the French press, the artisan of this success would be only his current coach, Jürgen Klopp. Indeed, the German technician who already followed Joel Matip in recent years has become more than a coach for the Cameroonian defender.
Interviewed on Liverpool TV, Joel Matip did not hesitate to indicate that Jürgen Klopp was more than a coach for him. “Since my arrival here, he’s always around to show me what I have to do and how I have to do it. He is interested not only in the player,but much more in the individual than I am. It’s really touching. “
Given this proximity, many media have seen the insidious hand of Jürgen Klopp in the choice of Joel Matip not to join the selection of Hugo Broos. The first to shoot was the SoFoot magazine, which openly indexed the Reds.
Even harder, Donovan Bynes, a columnist for The Sun newspaper, clearly points to the example of Senegalese player Sadio Mané, who refused the selection a year ago and is now all on fire with Liverpool:” The big English clubs are sulking more and more African players because of the AFCON.
To force them to stay, some wield sometimes the threat of loss of tenure to the player. Not wanting to lose his place, the player feels obliged to decline the national team or to simulate an injury.
