Onana happy to play at the back as Belgium experiment in Croatia win

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/onana-amadou/roId3gPf/"]Onana[/a], usually the midfield destroyer for the Belgians, was shifted to centre ‌back for the start of the friendly in Rijeka, ‌which [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] won 2-0 with a morale-boosting performance.[/p][p]It was a surprise ‌switch from their traditional 4-3-3 formation, but one that had ‌been planned to see whether it might be an option at the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.[/p][p][b]"I felt good in ‌that position," Onana told a press conference on ⁠Wednesday. "The partnership with Arthur ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/theate-arthur/2NA43UrT/"]Theate[/a]) ‌and Nathan ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngoy-nathan/x6Zak7to/"]Ngoy[/a]) went quite well. They carried out their roles very effectively ​too. For a first full dress rehearsal, this was certainly not bad at all.[/b][/p][p][b]"I've played there a few ​times before. The team comes first. I'm a midfielder, that's my favourite position, but if they need me at the back, ⁠I'll do it. ​Even if the coach needs me up front as a striker, I'll play there," Onana told reporters.[/b][/p][image alt="Belgium's player ratings against Croatia" id="54354c9c-daf5-4b03-82d2-a0016c8e352d" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="79d611e1-82cd-4c1f-a10a-732dfda7c936" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][b]"I feel most comfortable in midfield, and I believe that one day I can be one of ‌the very best players in the world in that position. The World Cup is the priority right now, though, and if I have to play in defence, I'll do it without complaining. I felt good there yesterday as well."[/b][/p][p]For coach Rudi Garcia, the experiment went well.[/p][p][b]"This gives us more variety in our play, especially because we have many players who are versatile enough to operate in this system," he said.[/b][/p][p][b]"Of course, ‌there are still things that can be improved. But at least ​we now know that we can use this system ‌to start a match or switch to it during a game and that we can also achieve results with it.[/b][/p][p][b]"Because he is naturally more of a midfielder, it gives us the option to move him around. We saw (against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a]) ⁠that he has all ⁠the qualities needed to do ‌this job successfully."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/croatia-K8aznggo/?mid=EDo2e0I5"]Catch up with their win over Croatia with Flashscore.[/a][/p]