UCL: Matip leads Cameroon quartet in last 16

By Angu Lesley

Football writer,kick442.com-Cameroon

At least four Cameroonian footballers will be in the last 16 of the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League competition.

Defenders Jerome Junior Onguene of Red Bull Salzburg, Joel Djob Matip of Liverpool plus forward Eric Choupo-Moting and Ajax’s goalkeeper Andre Onana Onana have helped their clubs in varied ways reach the business end of the competition.

Jerome Onguene’s Red Bull Salzburg featured in five games for his club this season and has made the side the only Austrian Club that will be in the last 16 of the competition for the first time.

The sweeper who recorded 437 minutes in all formed an important part of the Salzburg team.

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA – OCTOBER 24: Jerome Onguéné of FC Red Bull Salzburg during the Admiral Bundesliga match between FC Red Bull Salzburg and Sturm Graz at on October 24, 2021 in Salzburg, Austria. (Photo by Andreas Schaad – FC Red Bull Salzburg/FC Red Bull Salzburg via Getty Images)

Salzburg finished the group stages in the second step in Group G, just a point behind Lille and above Sevilla and Wolfsburg.

Manager Matthias Jaissle will be counting on the 23-year old defender to have a good run in the knockouts though it has already been a historic season in the competition.

Joel Matip

Matip and his Liverpool colleagues are once again through to the knock out phase of the competition following their impressive performance through out the run of six matches.

Matip featured in five of Liverpool’s six games as they top group B ahead of Atletico Madrid.

30-year old Matip who counts 27 caps for Cameroon with the last dating back to 2014 has accumulated 450 minutes in this season’s competition.

Eric Choupo-Moting of Bayern Munich on his part featured once in the competition and scored once as his team reached the last 16 of the competition.

Eric Choupo-Moting in action for Bayern Munich
Photo Credit: Sky Sports

Andre Onana featured once for Ajax Amsterdam in this season’s competition partly due to a nine months suspension.

The 25-year old remains a key part of the Ajax Amsterdam side that top group C with 18 points from six wins in six.

Andre Onana grows, clears with the chest
Photo credit: Ajax Amsterdam Communications

The draw for the round of 16 will be done next week while the games come up in February 2022.

All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written, or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from our management.

This site is not responsible for the content displayed by external sites