Amadou Onana returns to the failure of the World Cup: “We cannot be surprised at what happened”

This summer, Amadou Onana (21) decided to move up a level by leaving Lille. Direction Everton, in the Premier League. If his first season in the Premier League is going well on a personal level, it is much more complicated collectively speaking, where the club is engaged in a fight for maintenance.

“It’s not an easy season. I had never played before in a team that was fighting not to go down, and the fact that Everton are an important club in England, and that they are never going down to the Championship, it adds a little more pressure. But we take it well, we live it well, we know that we have the quality and the ability to keep the club in the Premier League,” said Onana. On a personal level, it’s going pretty well, because I’ve evolved in the space of half a season, it shows on the pitch in the maturity of my game. I had to adapt quickly (.. .) I am creating a lot more chances than before, because I am more present in the sixteen meters. When I took stock of my performances this summer, it was one of the points I wanted to improve.”

A form and performances with the Toffes which allowed him to win a selection for the 2022 World Cup, with Belgium. In Qatar, Onana even managed to move the hierarchy in the middle by being established in place of Tielemans against Morocco, but could do nothing to avoid the collective bankruptcy of this famous golden generation.

“Our performances weren’t up to par. When you see the way we played, it’s no surprise that we went out in the first round. In the locker room, I didn’t see any tension or anything. But to come back to the field, when I see a team like Morocco, the mentality and the aggressiveness with which they played, all that was not present in our matches. There are regrets, because we would have liked to go further, for some it was their last World Cup. But we cannot be surprised at what happened”, analyzed Onana, who is now one of the players who will have to take up the torch and restore the image of the selection.

“There is a new generation emerging with quality players like Openda, Theate, Doku, De Ketelaere and many others. as well as the previous generation. The one who, for me, put Belgian football on the world map.”