Amadou Onana’s accent-switch on being called the wrong name was next-level stuff, then Wikipedia entered the chat
Everton and Belgium midfielder Amadou Onana was already having a difficult time when he was interviewed after his country’s 1-0 loss to Slovakia, when an English journalist tried to attract his attention by calling him André – mixing him up with Manchester United’s André Onana.
His understandably exasperated reaction went viral.
@AndreyOnana van Man Utd speelt niet bij @BelRedDevils
“André is not even my name”@AmadouOnana8 pic.twitter.com/G1Qvyo81YX
— tanja neckebroeck (@TanjaNecke) June 18, 2024
“Andre’s not even my name, mate. D’ya know what I mean?”
It wasn’t the language switch that caught people’s attention – as impressive as that was – but the clear London accent he used. Code-switching level: Expert.
This is what people had to say about itl.
1.
Sensational change of aura from Amadou Onana here. He went from BBC Four to ITV2 in an instant
pic.twitter.com/sFp8VdpmjG— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) June 18, 2024
2.
Genuinely have never seen anyone who is not native English do such an authentic English accent like that this effortlessly, I’m obsessed – he doesn’t miss a beat, that is TALENT https://t.co/NKYVtrsT6C
— Nadine Batchelor-Hunt (@nadinebh_) June 18, 2024
3.
Onana, what’s my name!
Onana, what’s my name!
Onana, Andre’s not even my name! https://t.co/GKrCxH51YR— Greg Jenner (@greg_jenner) June 19, 2024
4.
That is sensational https://t.co/Uy79y9zh7d
— Liam Thorp (@LiamThorpECHO) June 18, 2024
5.
1. How hard is it to get a person’s name right when you’re speaking to them directly?
2. Loving the casual nature of that reply from Onana. https://t.co/YIoQDE5Hql
— HLTCO (@HLTCO) June 18, 2024
6.
My brother https://t.co/rdiLL0ybnm
— Guz Khan (@GuzKhanOfficial) June 18, 2024
7.
Brilliant…. https://t.co/H9DRO7k1oK
— Jon Sopel (@jonsopel) June 19, 2024
8.
He went from sounding like Wenger to sounding like Paul Ince. https://t.co/ISS8kz1RTv
— Jordy (@jordyinit) June 18, 2024
9.
There are professional voice actors that will kill for this level of skill. https://t.co/AK6UTCV9VR
— Ant Dan (@Ant_Dan) June 19, 2024
10.
This is the most alpha shit I’ve seen in my life, if this lad started an online university for men I would give up my family and enrol immediately https://t.co/HhZvMTtYHS
— Stu Richards (@StuJRichards) June 19, 2024
11.
Nobody in the history of spoken language has ever moved this far, this fast…sound ON. https://t.co/Ng3UOUnzqh
— Jill (@jsargentr) June 19, 2024
12.
I'd sign him for this alone. That accent flip is elite. https://t.co/OJFg6eNXk5
— Doc (@Doc_Joshi) June 18, 2024
To add the cherry to the top of the cake, the Wikipedia editors were quick to react.
ffs, who did this to Onana’s wiki https://t.co/6FZF3EHjWS pic.twitter.com/699KLl0NsL
— Josh Barrie (@joshbythesea) June 18, 2024
Onana's Wiki, he is fluent in 5 languages, and cockney pic.twitter.com/b8dWsKJXFZ
— Gadabout United (@GadaboutU) June 18, 2024
Who added cockney language in his wikipedia pic.twitter.com/CUsJQ83Ukt
— Vikas (@thunderxstorm07) June 19, 2024
We somehow think they’ll get his name right from now on.
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Source Tanja Neckebroeck Image Screengrab