Cameroon: Hugo Broos drops Joel Matip

The head coach of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon says he has removed Joel Matip from his plans. Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Mr Broos disclosed that he had made several failed attempts to contact the Liverpool defender.

Joel Matip is one of several players who turned down the coach’s call to play at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon earlier this year. They had “preferred” their clubs to their country.

Hugo Broos says he had always had the desire to have Matip on the team again but he has changed his mind recently.

“It’s impossible to have contact with him. I did [send] a few messages. He never answered,” the BBC quoted Mr Broos.

“I phoned him a few times. He never answered, so it’s clear he doesn’t want to play for Cameroon,” he continued.

Thus, Mr Broos concluded that, “For me that case is closed and I will never think again about Matip”, reports the BBC.

Matip who is yet to react to Mr Broos’ declarations, has played 27 matches for Cameroon. He lastly played for his country in 2015, alleging a bad experience with the coaching staff preceding Broos’.

Two of the players who did not go with Broos to Gabon are on the latest list of preselected players for upcoming matches, especially the Confederations Cup in Russia next month. They include Andre Onana and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, who had been called back in March, has been dropped, following the list that was published within the week. He had refused to honour Broos’ call for the Nations Cup.

Njie Clinton, who had honored the call and accompanied his team to victory in Gabon, has been dropped from the squad, according to the list that was published by Mr Broos recently.

Mr Broos has always maintained that the players who did not respect the call have themselves to blame since he won the title even without them. But most the players have rubbished that claim, arguing that it made no difference, victory or not victory.