Aston Villa star Amadou Onana slammed by Belgian media in Egypt draw
Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana hardly covered himself in glory as Belgium drew to Egypt on Monday.
The 24-year-old has recently returned to full fitness after struggling in the final weeks of the season in B6.
He was limited to just substitute cameos after going off early in the Europa League semi-final first leg away to Nottingham Forest.
That still allowed him to feature in the final against Freiburg before coming off the bench in the final day win at Manchester City.
Villa's record signing has now jetted out to North America to feature at the World Cup and started in Belgium's opener in Seattle.
It's fair to say Onana didn't have a dream start to the summer tournament as he came under heavy scrutiny from the Belgian media.
Amadou Onana ripped into as Belgium draw with Egypt
The Red Devils arguably have one of the easiest groups to contend with as they line up against Egypt, Iran and New Zealand.
That didn't stop them from making their opener look difficult as the Pharaohs took the lead after 19 minutes.
A stellar strike from Emam Ashour was eventually cancelled out by a Mohamed Hany own goal on 66 minutes.
By that point, Onana had already been removed and replaced by Rangers man Nicolas Raskin in a change that certainly went down well with the press.
Foot Mercato were far from complementary as they slated the Villa man with a 3.5 match rating.
They added: "The Aston Villa player struggled considerably and failed to prevent the Pharaohs from advancing in midfield, particularly during the first half where he seemed completely out of sorts. His distribution wasn't always controlled."
That was echoed by RTBF, who were frustrated that "he slowed down the Belgian game when it finally got going".
Maxifoot didn't hold back either in their scathing review of Onana for his midfield performance.
They wrote: "Far too slow in his actions, the Aston Villa midfielder constantly slowed down Belgium's play. It's no coincidence that, despite his imposing physique, he struggled against Egypt's pressing."
What do Aston Villa star Onana's stats say vs Egypt?
It may not come as a surprise to many at Villa Park that the 24-year-old has struggled after being thrown into the starting XI.
He hasn't started a game in claret and blue since late April and his next competitive outing has come at the World
Onana did still feature for 56 minutes against Egypt but misplaced five and passes and was dispossessed once.
The midfielder also failed to win a single tackle and gave away one foul before he was taken off.
The Villa man now faces an uphill battle if he is to prove himself in upcoming clashes against Iran and New Zealand.