{"id":388609,"date":"2025-09-01T05:05:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T05:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/388609\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T05:05:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T05:05:20","slug":"hugo-ekitike-france-give-cameroon-slap-in-the-face-with-decision-over-liverpool-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/388609\/","title":{"rendered":"Hugo Ekitike: France give Cameroon slap in the face with decision over Liverpool forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike has gotten the last laugh over Cameroon after the Indomitable Lions turned their backs on him<\/p>\n

Hugo Ekitike<\/a>\u2019s international career has taken a dramatic twist, as France<\/a> finally called up the Liverpool<\/a> striker after initially snubbing him, while Cameroon<\/a> have firmly closed the door on his eligibility.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old appears to have been vindicated for his decision to pitch his tent with France after initially being disappointed by Les Bleus.<\/p>\n

Deschamps\u2019 U-turn hands Ekitike a lifeline<\/p>\n

Didier Deschamps surprised many when Hugo Ekitike was left out of France\u2019s squad for their September World Cup qualifiers.<\/p>\n

Despite scoring three goals in his first three Liverpool appearances after a \u20ac95 million move from Eintracht Frankfurt, the forward seemed overlooked in a packed attacking roster.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

France head coach Didier Deschamps || Credit: Imago<\/p>\n

However, fate opened the door when Manchester City\u2019s Rayan Cherki withdrew with a torn quadriceps. Deschamps turned to Ekitike, giving him his first senior France call-up.<\/a><\/p>\n

The moment is a huge opportunity for the striker, who had previously impressed at youth level with 11 caps and five goals for the French U-21s.<\/p>\n

For Ekitike, the selection not only validates his patience but also strengthens his case for cementing a place in one of the world\u2019s most competitive national teams.<\/p>\n

Cameroon left red-faced after shutting the door on Ekitike<\/p>\n

Yet while France eventually came knocking, Cameroon made it clear they were unwilling to act as a second choice.<\/p>\n

Coach Marc Brys dismissed the idea of approaching Ekitike<\/a>, stating bluntly that his squad is built on passion, not reputation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Ekitike says he had cramps in the game vs Bournemouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put all his money into trying to play with France but he didn\u2019t succeed. And now we, Cameroon, are the second choice? I don\u2019t need to be a second choice,\u201d Brys said firmly.<\/p>\n

Born to a Cameroonian father and French mother, Ekitike seemed to be in limbo after two disappointments, but the Indomitable Lions\u2019 decision to pass on the opportunity to snatch thim from France has now come back to haunt them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike has gotten the last laugh over Cameroon after the Indomitable Lions turned their backs on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2530,2000,299,36,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-388609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-cameroon","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-liverpool"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115127302477886256","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}