That is because the two players have gotten into a surprising beef after some unnecessary show of passive aggression from the Everton midfielder before the match.
Onana appears to be quite confident and motivated heading into the match. After impressing in the group stages, he is now looking to further brighten his reputation by dominating the French players.
The player he really wants to make a mark on appears to be France captain Kylian Mbappe, who is yet to tap into his best form in the tournament.
Before the much-anticipated knockout clash, the Belgian midfielder decided to take part in a video with Belgian comedian Pablo Andres.
In the clip, the comedian can be heard asking him ‘Who will tackle Mbappe in the shin?’ to which the Everton star replies ‘Onana..Amadou Onana’ in jubilant fashion.
It’s almost like this is done to charge on the Red Devils’ faithful and turn this into a chant for that match, perhaps to intimidate the Real Madrid forward.
Even though this seems to be a comedy sketch and not an intentional case of intimidation, this bit has rubbed some fans the wrong way and attracted a lot of criticism for Onana.
When it comes to Mbappe, however, he’s decided to deal with it in a composed fashion.
Ahead of the match, some journalists decided to confront the French forward about the Onana clip. They simply asked him if he’ll allow Amadou Onana to exchange shirts with him at the end of the match, to which Kylian simply replied ‘Who?’.
The Belgian reporters had to correct him by confirming the identity of Amadou Onana, the Belgium midfielder and not Andre Onana, the Manchester United goalkeeper.
To this, the French forward replied: “Ah, I’ve heard about it. You know, a lot of people talk about me – I have no problems with that. If he wants my kit, he can have it.”
It’s quite clear that Mbappe refuses to share the same kind of passive aggression as Onana on this matter and wil look to outwit him on the field.
What is interesting is this antics from the Everton man happened right at the time he’s been started to get linked to a potential summer transfer to Barcelona. Hence, it gives fuel for more fans to compare this battle as a mini El Clasico to take place in the France-Belgium game.
But the Belgian football federation have been quick to condone the video and issue their aplogy to the Real Madrid player.
Ahead of the Euros knockout clash, the Belgian FA wrote in a statement: “The video was intended to be humorous but has since been taken offline. We would like to apologise to anyone we may have offended by this. This concludes the matter for us.”
Despite the apologies, this battle is far from done. A lot of eyes will be on how the Kylian Mbappe vs Amadou Onana battle goes on.
