Everton’s Amadou Onana started in Belgium’s victories against Sweden and Germany last month and his performances were praised by the media in his home country.
Belgium appointed Domenico Tedesco as Roberto Martínez’s successor after the latter left the national team following their elimination from the World Cup.
The Everton midfielder made two appearances in the group stage of the World Cup and picked up a yellow card in both matches. This led to his suspension for the clash against Croatia. He’s not pleased with people blaming him for the bookings he received in Qatar.
“Yes, it bothers me that people keep coming back with my cards! Either you ask me to have volume in my game, or to be tender and present the cheek to my opponent,” he told RTBF.
“Here in England, which is the most committed championship, I only took 6 [note: 7] in 26 matches. So, I am able to hold myself back but my position is more exposed to this risk.”
Onana spent five years in Germany with 1899 Hoffenheim and Hamburger SV earlier in his career and that has helped him to communicate easily with Tedesco, who spent the majority of his coaching career in Germany.
“I like to speak this language, especially since I struggled to learn it. He and I immediately had a good feeling. He immediately gave me confidence by telling me that I was a player he relied on. He’s someone who communicates very well,” Onana explained.
“And I can’t say that of all my coaches. He knows how to manage a group. And when he talks about football, he speaks to me, so the two together it’s ideal for me.”
Onana played alongside Nottingham Forest’s Orel Mangala in Belgium’s win over Germany. The latter had heaped praise on the Everton midfielder.
On his new partnership with Mangala, Onana said: “With Orel, I get on just as well off the pitch as on it. We are very complementary, it’s fluid. The three main qualities of our duo? I would say cohesion (we talk to each other a lot on the pitch), physical (we try to hinder the opponent as much as possible), and assurance (we are quite sure of our qualities) And it’s true that at 21, it’s a bit surprising.”
