Sunday, May 26

Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois ‘deeply disappointed’ by his coach’s feedback in captaincy row

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois questioned Domenico Tedesco’s “reality” after the Belgium coach accused him of abandoning his teammates and faking an damage earlier than a European Championship qualifier.

Tedesco claimed Courtois didn’t flip up for Belgium’s coaching camp on Monday as a result of the goalie was “offended” by his dealing with of the captaincy. After Courtois’ father denied there was a dispute inside the squad and stated his son was allowed to depart due to a knee irritation, Tedesco informed the media that Courtois was not injured.

Courtois responded in a press release late Monday accompanied with an image of him in a Belgium outfit and one hand on his coronary heart, standing subsequent to interim captain Romelu Lukaku, that he was “deeply disappointed” that Tedesco spoke publicly about their locker room dialog.



He added that “the coach’s assessments do not fit with reality.”

Courtois insisted he has an issue in his proper knee and his choice to depart was taken after consultations between the medical groups of his Real Madrid membership and the nationwide squad.

The goalkeeper additionally gave his model of the dialog he had with Tedesco in regards to the crew captaincy.

“I asked him, not for direct benefit, to explain and make decisions to avoid situations that in the past have harmed us while always looking for the general benefit,” he stated. “To be or not to be the national team captain is neither a whim nor a random decision, it should be his decision, and that is what I tried to convey to him. Unfortunately I did not achieve my purpose.”

Before Courtois’ walkout, Tedesco publicly stated it will be Courtois’ flip to put on the armband towards Estonia on Tuesday.

“I insist that in no case have I demanded anything and that I have spoken to my teammate Romelu Lukaku to clarify any circumstances related to this situation,” Courtois added.

Lukaku was captain on Saturday when Belgium drew with Austria 1-1. Lukaku scored their equalizer. and Courtois was praised by Tedesco for preserving the draw.

But Tedesco stated on Monday when Courtois – who has 102 matches for Belgium – didn’t regather with the crew that the goalie was pissed off to not have been captain.

“And of course, I tried several times to speak to him: ‘Don’t do that to me, don’t do that to the staff, don’t do that to the team.’ Because it’s a tough one, it’s a hard decision that he took,” Tedesco stated.

Asked whether or not he would go away the door open for Courtois to return to the nationwide squad, Tedesco stated, “It’s not the right moment to speak about it.”

Unbeaten in Group F, Belgium trails chief Austria by three factors however has one match in hand earlier than taking over Estonia.

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