Amadou Onana has apologised for collecting his second yellow card at the World Cup, ruling him out of Belgium's final group stage game against Croatia on Thursday.
The Everton midfielder featured during the second half of his country's first match versus Canada with his impressive performance from the bench earning him a start against Morocco on Sunday.
But Onana was withdrawn after being booking and he will now miss Belgium's final fixture later this week after receiving cautions in both of his outings in Qatar. That means he will be forced to watch on from the sidelines, for what is a game the Red Devils cannot lose if they are to reach the knockout phase.
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Reflecting on his suspension, the Blues' summer signing admits he made a mistake but can understand why Roberto Martinez took the decision to replace him 60 minutes into the match versus Morocco, who emerged as shock 2-0 winners.
"This card came very early. I almost have to apologize for being tall and lanky and having long arms," he told VP. Onana added: "Eden [Hazard] was mowed down 1,000 times but they didn't get a card. I still wanted to play because I felt good. I have played with a yellow card many times in my career. These are the choices of the coach and I don't blame him."
Onana, 21, has impressed at Goodison Park this season since joining the club from Lille, featuring 15 times in all competitions for Frank Lampard's side. Arriving at the same time as Idrissa Gueye and James Garner, Everton's midfield department has experienced somewhat of an overhaul in 2022/23.
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