Joel Matip’s return to the national team has reached its definite epilogue. The Cameroonians did everything to convince the Liverpool sweeper to wear the shirt with the national emblem again and lead his selection at the World Cup in Qatar. Legendary Roger Mila tried also but Matip remained consistent – he put an end to his national team career in July 2015, when he played a match against The Gambia and then quarreled with the then coach Volker Finke.In the past few weeks, various unverified information has been leaked through the local media. It was written about how the leaders of the Cameroon football association, led by the national team coach Rigobert Song, managed to finalize the job through Matip’s father, Jean. However, none of that happened, which is confirmed by Joel’s statements, which put an end to this issue.”I don’t know why Cameroon doesn’t want you to realize that my head is no longer with the Indomitable Lions. I’ve done my part, it’s time for others to take over. I don’t want to tarnish my reputation for the thousandth time. In Cameroon it always the players’ fault, not the whole team’s. When your heart is no longer in something, then the end result can only do harm”, Matip said.24.11. Thu 12:00: (1.80) Switzerland (3.40) Cameroon (5.00)Matip was born in Bochum, (his mother is German) but he still decided to play for his father’s homeland. He made his debut in March 2010 in a friendly match against Italy and during his national team career, he recorded 27 appearances for Cameroon and scored one goal.In January 2017, Matip officially announced that he had retired from the national team.”It wasn’t always easy for me, but I hope this chapter is over now. It wasn’t easy because I didn’t understand what was going on. I wanted to stay here in Liverpool and play. In the last two years, after the 2014 World Cup, I played for the national team only once, I tried to represent my country, do my best and achieve something, but it didn’t go well.I always tried hard, I talked to the coach who was always trying to change things, but at one point you have to say ‘that’s enough’, you can’t keep saying that ‘maybe’, ‘next time’ it will be better. It’s over now and I’m looking to the future. The problem is solved and I can concentrate on Liverpool. It’s over,” Matip said at the time, but still had to repeat himself and definitely disappoint the entire nation.CAF retreats following Tunisian threat of boycotting the AFCON 2023 qualifiersCameroon ended up in Group G at the World Cup and they start their participation on November 24 against Switzerland, four days later they will play against Serbia and the clash with Brazil is scheduled for December 2.
