After getting back into the team’s training routine on Wednesday, Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana will most likely start Friday’s group stage match against holders Senegal.

Since Onana was permitted to remain at Manchester United and participate in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, he will not be able to play in Cameroon’s first encounter of the tournament in the Ivory Coast on Monday.

He reached the Ivory Coast the night after the Old Trafford match via charter airline, but he didn’t get there until just hours before Cameroon’s 1-1 comeback against Guinea in Group C.

Supporters of Cameroon were outraged by the decision to let the 27-year-old skip the tournament’s first match.

Upon his arrival in the Ivory Coast, Onana spoke with media about the conflicting allegiances that African internationals face, particularly when they are required to leave their European clubs in the middle of the season to participate in the Cup of Nations.

“It’s like choosing between my father and my mother, but my country comes first, that’s why I’m here,” he commented.

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“Allow them to keep picking on me. It’s nothing new for me. The welfare of my nation is my first priority, Onana continued.

After making it onto the Cameroon squad as a teenager at Ajax Amsterdam, Onana’s relationship with the national team has been rocky.

Although he and coach Rigobert Song have subsequently made up, he declined a call-up to the 2017 Cup of Nations finals and was sent home after one match at the most recent World Cup in Qatar.

Two years ago, however, he did compete in the Cup of Nations, just after serving a lengthy Ԁrug ban.