The trait Unai Emery will love as Youri Tielemans recovers from 'disastrous' Belgium performance
Aston Villa ace Youri Tielemans went through all the emotions as Belgium stunned Senegal at the World Cup.
The Lions of Teranga were cruising at 2-0 in Seattle with the clock winding down, and Tielemans seemingly headed home.
Tielemans had already displayed his frustration when he was caught arguing with Leandro Trossard shortly befo the second-half hydration break.
But then, Romelu Lukaku halved the deficit in the 86th minute to make things interesting.
Tielemans then sent things into extra-time, heading home from a wonderful cross from Trossard of all people.
And he would prove the hero, scoring a last-gasp penalty in extra time to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory and set up a last-16 meeting with co-hosts the United States.
How did the media react to Youri Tielemans' Belgium performance?
Tielemans' frustration was understandable, given how poor Belgium had been to that point.
Defensively they were static as Habib Diarra scored on the rebound to open the scoring in the first half, then were undone by a long ball over the top as Ismaila Sarr expertly doubled the lead.
Indeed, Tielemans was not having his best game. Nieuwsblad gave him an 8/10, but only because of his recovery from a "disastrous" performance.
They wrote: "Was having a disastrous match, yet was allowed to stay on. First thanked the team with the 2-2, then scored the 3-2 from the spot in extra time. That takes guts."
VoetbalNieuws, who gave Tielemans a 7/10, offered a similar assessment: "Was not having his best match. He also got into a verbal altercation with Trossard just before the final drinks break, to the point where several teammates even had to intervene.
"Afterwards, however, he took responsibility. He helped orchestrate the turnaround, including a goal following an assist from... Trossard.
"He then continued to carry the team in extra time and coolly converted the winning penalty in the 125th minute. And the captain also played his part in the historic comeback."
Why will shaky Tielemans have impressed Emery?
The truth is Tielemans, did not have his greatest performance.
He did make one key pass in the game, but had an expected assists of just 0.03, while none of his five crosses successfully found a team-mate.
Tielemans had a pass success rate of 83 per cent (54/65, but this dropped to just 70 per cent in the opposition half (23/33).
Of the seven long balls he attemped, only three were succesful (43 per cent), and in total he ceded possession 20 times in the game.
But Emery will love Tielemans' never-say-die attitude. He could have wilted, but he kept fighting and kept demanding the ball.
He had 14 duels in total, winning eight of them (including five of six in the air), while making six recoveries for his team.
Ultimately, he will have better games. But when it mattered, Tielemans stood up to be counted, and that has to be a good thing ahead of another huge season for Villa.