AFCON 2023: Andre Onana Shows Stanley Nwabali Love With Parting Gift After Nigeria Beat Cameroon

AFCON 2023: Andre Onana Shows Stanley Nwabali Love With Parting Gift After Nigeria Beat Cameroon

Jarryd Westerdale
updated at January 29, 2024 at 6:16 PM
In this article:
Nigeria logo
Nigeria
Nigeria
21
Cameroon logo
Cameroon
Cameroon
27
Stanley Nwabali logo
S. Nwabali
-GNigeria logo
André Onana logo
A. Onana
Manchester United logoGCameroon logo
  • Andre Onana played only one match at AFCON 2023 as Cameroon exited at the Last 16
  • Stanley Nwabali's injury is being monitored with a quarter-final with Angola on Friday
  • Onana greeted all the Nigerian goalkeepers in the warm-up before the teams faced off

Two of the tournament's most popular glovemen shared a moment of mutual recognition.

Cameroon and Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana and his Nigeria and Chippa United counterpart were seen in a friendly embrace before their nations fought it out in Abidjan.

Collecting jerseys is one of the many perks of professional football and the goalkeepers will now have a piece of each other to mark the occasion after swapping shirts after the match.

AFCON 2023, Stanley Nwabali, Andre Onana, Nigeria, Cameroon, kit swap.
Andre Onana and Standley Nwabali swapped jerseys after their AFCON 2023 Round of 16 match with the Nigerian showing it off on social media. Photos: @woranmangra, @NwabaliBobo and @TransferSector.
Source: Twitter

As Onana heads back to England and Nwabali stays in Ivory Coast to hopefully recover from injury, the Nigerian took to social media to show off his new piece to add to the collection, complete with AFCON 2023 insignia.

While Onana has received mixed reactions from Cameroon and Manchester United fans, Nwabali has been showered with praise for his performances at AFCON.

One X user reminded Nwabali of the important quarter-final looming. LABI@KingLabi posted:

"Bro, you know we need you fit yeah! Pls your confidence is top-notch. We love you! Get back stronger."

DauTips@ForeverDau added:

"I hope you'll recover in time to man the post on Friday."

Nigerian and African fans in general have enjoyed watching Nwabili's tournament. The message from Pelium@Onemanwifskillz was clear:

"Maximum respect."

The interest would not be complete without those joking about the inconsistent season Onana has had. Ekundayo@Ekundayo31 joked that it could be a bad omen, posting:

"Ahhhh now watch Nwabali concede 3 goals chai."

Nigeria will be holding their breath as they wait for confirmation on his fitness, while Onana is expected to line up for United on Thursday against Wolves.

Fabrice Ondoa on replacing his cousin

Sports Brief recently reported on Fabrice Ondoa's thoughts on taking over from Andre Onana in Cameroon's goal.

Onana was replaced by his cousin Ondoa after an abject performance against Senegal where he conceded three.

Ondoa was diplomatic with his answer, stating it was up to the coaches and the squad was there as a collective.

Authors
Jarryd Westerdale photo
Jarryd Westerdale
Jarryd Westerdale (based in Johannesburg) joined Sports Brief after four years in the community journalism sphere. He is a two-time Alet Roux Award winner and was a finalist in multiple categories at the Forum of Community Journalism Excellence Awards.