Everton’s Amadou Onana is due back at Finch Farm on Thursday after Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Sweden was abandoned on Monday night.
Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres, who was on Everton’s radar last season before leaving Coventry City for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £17.35million in July put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes before Romelu Lukaku, the Blues’ all-time leading Premier League scorer with 68 goals, restored parity from the penalty spot on 31 minutes.
However, the game was halted at half-time for security reasons after two Swedish people were shot dead in Brussels in what is being treated as a terrorist incident on Boulevard d’Ypres, three miles from where the fixture was taking place.
With the gunman still at large, spectators and players – including Onana who was suspended after being sent off against Austria on Friday but was present to watch his international team-mates after training with them in Tubize the previous day – were ordered to stay inside the King Baudouin Stadium for their safety. An evacuation of the stadium began at around 22:45 with the Sweden team given a police escort to the airport and visiting fans accompanied by the police into the city.
The ECHO understands that Belgium players were allowed to go home around midnight but Onana is not due back with Everton until Thursday as Sean Dyche’s squad prepare for the 243rd Merseyside Derby against Liverpool on Saturday.
The 22-year-old had originally been dropped to the bench for the Blues’ previous fixture against Bournemouth on October 7 but retained his place after Idrissa Gueye picked up an injury in the pre-match warm-up and played the full 90 minutes in a 3-0 win.
