On the eve of Ukraine-Belgium, Amadou Onana was present at a press conference. He once again stood out for his ease on several subjects.
At the start of his press conference, Amadou Onana had put the laughs on his side by launching a “No question? Thank you, goodbye” while the press hesitated to take the plunge. Enough to break the ice, before a conference given fluidly in three different languages - French, English and even… German, answering a question about his past in Hanover and Hamburg.
To the first question, on the subject of Lukaku’s “breakdown” and a possible frustration, immediately, words full of class: “Without Romelu’s goals in qualifying, we would not be here,” recalled Amadou Onana.
And of course, the same positive words when talking about Tielemans and Mangala, “two world-class players to whom I do not have to adapt” (read here), or about the famous golden generation that he did not know as a player but also as a little boy in love with football.
“Of course they deserve to be called the Golden Generation. I’m living a dream right now: the guys I play with, I watched them play as a kid. Jan, Romelu, Kevin, I looked up to them growing up. They’ve achieved great things,” Onana says.
Finally, the Everton midfielder couldn’t escape a question about the war in Ukraine and what goes through your mind when facing a country at war. “Do we feel compassion? Yes, of course. Every life lost is a disaster for humanity. I don’t like injustice anywhere. But I’m here to play football and qualify for the next round”, concludes Amadou Onana.
Flawless and without slippage, therefore, as often with Onana at press conferences. The future captain of the national team is probably him…
