Former captain of the Panthers of Gabon, Bruno Ecuélé Manga does not appear on the last list of selected by Patrice Neveu to take part in the confrontation of next September 9 against the Mourabitounes of Mauritania, in Nouakchott, as part of the 6th and last day of the Can 2023 qualifiers. In a letter sent to the president of the National Federation, on September 4, the resident of Niort expresses his dismay and attacks the national coach.
Bruno Ecuelé Manga at the time of the radiation as captain of the Panthers of Gabon. © DR
A few days before the meeting falling within the framework of the last day of the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations (Can) football, Côte d’Ivoire 2023, it is not the great serenity in the lair of the Panthères du Gabon. The Gabonese selection trained by coach Patrice Neveu does not count in its ranks to take part in the next expedition to Mauritanian soil, the former captain, Bruno Ecuelé Manga. This led the latter to attack the coach, castigating “low-level shenanigans that do no honor to anyone”.
The former captain of the national football team, who has rarely been on Neveu’s list since the Can in Cameroon, was on the coach’s pre-list on August 18. A list that obviously needs to be groomed and refined to present only the 23 best athletes selected. What was done next. Bruno Ecuélé Manga, Akué Assoumou and Louis Ameka Autchanga were, indeed, finally withdrawn from the final list.
However, in his letter addressed to the president of the Gabonese Football Federation (Fegafoot), the former Cardiff City player indicates that on August 19, the Secretary General of Fegafoot sent a letter to the president of the Niort club to tell them ” his selection and request a leave of absence from September 4 to 11, 2023″. “Arrived in Paris to join the selection, he said, I contacted Mr. Mombo to ask him for the start-up program. Great was my surprise to receive by SMS a message from the latter telling me that my name had been removed from the list of players to take part, a decision taken since August 22.
The one who wore the captain’s armband of the national team then wonders “how to understand and interpret the surprise visit of the coach, Neveu, on August 25, 2023 in Niort”, and who did not inform him of this non- selection, while “his decision had already been recorded 3 days earlier”. “I dare not believe that he made this trip to receive mission expenses or to admire the beauty of the city of Niort”, ironically the player.
“Stay professional”
For the Gabonese international, “these low-level shenanigans do not honor anyone, especially at a time when the particular circumstances that our country is going through require seriousness, commitment and serenity on our part to win this game, which is so important for our compatriots and the whole Nation. “.
In his opinion, his ousting from the national team would follow precedents with coach Neveu. In this context, he believes that the latest decisions are “an obvious desire to want to humiliate a player who does not adapt to his mistakes which have cost us dearly”.
That no ! Are we offended on the side of the federation. A source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity, indicates that the former Lorient is acting in bad faith. “He knows how it works. He can’t pretend,” she pointed out, explaining that “managers, for the most part, make pre-lists of 28 or even 30 players and more. Before going green and the final list, the coaches follow the evolution of the players and select only the best.
“In the case of our captain, Patrice Neveu went to Niort to see him play. Except that when he arrived, he was in the stands. He wasn’t lined up. From the exchange with the Niortais coach, it emerged that he was not physically fit. This is the truth!”, said this source. She believes that “the former Panthers captain should stay professional especially since he is not the only player to have been left behind”.
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