Belgian national team defender Nemosi Castagne (Fulham) “blamed” Belgium’s flagship goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid). What happened.
The incident started at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. At that time, there were reports of infighting among the Belgian national team’s players. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) said, “The Belgian national team is old and can no longer achieve glory,” which caused a stir, and players such as Courtois, Eden Hazard, and Romelu Lukaku (AS Roma) protested.
There’s definitely a reason why a team doesn’t work. Belgium failed to advance to the round of 16 after being pushed out to third place in Group F at the Qatar World Cup.
The Belgian team’s infighting did not end here. After the Qatar World Cup, Roberto Martinez was replaced, and Domenico Tedesco was newly appointed. Rumors of discord emerged again in the Belgian national team, which is trying to start anew as a new coach.
The national team was called up ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifying round in June. At that time, Der Bruyne was out with an injury. Then there was a fight between Lukaku, the main striker, and Courtois, the main goalkeeper. They raised their voices to wear the ‘captain armband’ of each other.
Up until the Qatar World Cup, Belgium’s captain was Hazard. Hazard retired from the national team after the World Cup, and De Bruyne took over as captain. When Der Bruyne fell out due to injury, Lukaku and Courtois fought each other to become captains.
Tedesco gave Lukaku the captaincy. Then Courtois took an unexpected action, missing the training. Since then, he has proposed an arbitration plan to play in each game with the captain’s armband, and Courtois has returned to the national team.
Castagne revives these memories and lashes out at Courtois. Courtois was injured just before the start of the season and underwent surgery, and is currently recovering. If he recovers, he will naturally join the Belgian national team.
Castagne said on Belgium’s Le Soir, “If Courtois comes back to the national team as if nothing had happened, it would be really strange. There was controversy, including the story of the captain’s armband. It is true that Courtois is the world’s best goalkeeper, but we cannot sacrifice the Belgian national team for that one player,” he stressed.
“The most important thing now is, of course, for Courtois to recover from his injury. The problem between Courtois and the coach will then have to be solved. And if Courtois no longer wants to come to the national team, this is Courtois’ choice, too. The Belgium national team had a good goalkeeper even if it was not Courtois. This means that you don’t have to come to the national team.
Castagne also brought up the internal strife within the squad during the Qatar World Cup. 스포츠토토
“We have to look in the mirror all the time,” he said. This happened after the match against Morocco, and we didn’t have a chance. Martinez was fired. It was a different environment from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where we played well. It was no longer that strong team. Is it all Martinez’s fault? No, it’s just part of it. We have to work harder in training going forward, and we have to do more things together off the field. This is Tedesco’s philosophy,” he stressed.
