Afcon 2023: Controversy trails Cameroonian ‘17 years old’ Nathan Douala’s real age as Onana priorotises Man Utd

Afcon 2023: Controversy trails Cameroonian ‘17 years old’ Nathan Douala’s  real age as Onana priorotises Man Utd

A Cameroonian football player has struck controversy as he claims to be a teenager but there are many alleging that he is far older than he claims to be as he will appear for the national team in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

According to the Cameroon Federation, Wilfried Nathan Douala was born in 2006 and will make his debut with the senior national team at the age of 17. He has been called up by the national team coached by Rigobert Song for AFCON, held in Ivory Coast from January 13, 2024.

So far so normal ... until the image of the player appears, which, by far, does not appear to have those 17 official years. Thus, the world has the first controversy of an Afcon that usually brings news of this type at the beginning of the tournament.

Douala, a midfielder for Cameroon's Victoria United, seems to be one of the young talents of Cameroon which is presided over by the great Samuel Eto'o, perhaps the best African footballer in history.

The Cameroonian national team is one of the Nations Cup favorites with players, and Senegal enters as the defending champions.

Elsewhere, Manchester United's first-choice goalkeeper, Andre Onana, is also Cameroon's main goalkeeper and as he is regarded as one of the best in the game he will be a desired pick for the nation in their continental tournament.

At the moment, Onana is eager to play in the contest but has asked the Cameroonian FA to delay his availability for international duties, according to ESPN.

He wants to remain with the Old Trafford club, where he arrived for $54.7m in the summer, for their FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic on January 8. The English game is due to take place one day before a friendly against Zambia on January 9 and the 27-year-old would rather play the competitive game.

 

Cameroon will be eager to protect him from injury so they could deny the request and Manchester United could be forced to turn to either Altay Bayindir or Tom Heaton to stand in for the tie against the EFL Sky Bet League One side.