Belgium’s Amadou Onana quite understandably hit back at a journalist in the mixed zone for mistakenly calling him ‘Andre’ when attempting to ask a question – once again drawing some marvelling at his English accent in the process.
The unfortunate reporter committed the faux pas following Belgium’s surprise defeat to Slovakia in their first game at Euro 2024, which is pretty much the worst time you could ever mix one player’s name up with another’s: Onana’s namesake Andre of course plays in goal for Manchester United and represents Cameroon.
Onana cut the question off to respond: “Andre’s not even my name mate…do you know what I mean?”, before turning to another nearby journalist and accepting a question from them instead.
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The very London-sounding reply, juxtaposed with Onana having just finished answering a question in another language, provoked a stunned response even from fellow Belgians.
However, this is far from the first time Everton’s Senegal-born midfielder has surprised people with an accent indistinguishable from having been born and raised in the UK, despite the fact that he only moved to the country in 2022.
Everton fans noted his accent when he moved to Goodison Park two years ago, and Onana has since shown off his ability to slip into Scouse should the need arise, though we are a bit unclear as to exactly what situation that might be.
English is one of five languages Onana speaks, alongside Wolof, French, Dutch and German. Six, we suppose, if you also count Scouse.
More Euro 2024 stories
We have a guide on how to get Euro 2024 tickets if you're still looking to go to the tournament. Can’t make it out there? Don’t worry: here’s how to watch Euro 2024 live streams from anywhere in the world
We have the run-down on Euro 2024 stadiums, with info on host cities, capacities, and everything you need to know.
We also have a list of the Euro 2024 favourites, with best odds on nations to win European Championship in Germany, while these are the best Euros games ever and these are the best pundits ever.
