West Ham star Nayef Aguerd oozes class and Everton’s Amadou Onana flops on world stage as Morocco beat Belgium.
When West Ham signed Aguerd for £30m from Rennes in the summer David Moyes revealed he had been chasing him for two years.
Now the rest of the world are seeing why.
Another player West Ham wanted was giant Belgium midfielder Onana.
But Moyes refused to give him the guarantees he wanted over game time and Everton swooped to bring him to Goodison Park instead.
West Ham star Nayef Aguerd oozes class and Everton’s Amadou Onana flops on world stage as Morocco beat Belgium
Both West Ham and Everton have struggled for any kind of form or consistency in the Premier League this season.
Things may have been different for the Hammers had Morocco defender Aguerd been available. The left-footed centre back was ruled out for nearly three months after needing surgery on an ankle injury sustained in just his second outing of pre-season.
Aguerd had just started to come back into the West Ham side before the World Cup break. And Moyes welcomed his involvement in the tournament in Qatar as it would help get him back up to full speed.
There were no signs of rust on Aguerd as Morocco deservedly beat FIFA’s second ranked team Belgium 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
West Ham star Aguerd absolutely oozed class and Everton’s Onana flopped on the world stage as Morocco beat Belgium.
After his competitive debut for West Ham in Europe a few weeks ago, Hammers News described Aguerd as a Ferrari.
And he showed that was no flash in the pan by doing it on the biggest stage of all. Aguerd was one of the best players on the pitch as Morocco secured a brilliant victory which should go a long way to sealing their place in the last 16.
Onana has blown hot and cold for Everton so far.
Unfortunately for the young and clearly talented midfielder, the game against Morocco was one of his cold days.
The £35m Everton signing seriously struggled on the ball and was substituted in the second half with co-commentator Jermaine Jenas critical of his display.
Aguerd will be the toast of his nation today but as Jenas commented when Toffees man Onana left the pitch “he won’t be in the team when Belgium play Croatia”.
In fairness to Onana he was brave in constantly looking to get on the ball. But he was the victim of another poor Belgian display. The Everton midfielder was also the only player booked on the Belgium team.
The added bonus for Moyes and West Ham is that the further Morocco the more Aguerd can build towards peak fitness ready for the second half of the campaign.
Aguerd’s was a nine out of 10 performance but Onana will be lucky to get any more than a five or six on a bad day for ex Everton boss Roberto Martinez.