upset not to be captain, Thibaut Courtois skips Belgium training, his coach “shocked”

“I am surprised and shocked that he felt offended and disappointed”. Coach Domenico Tedesco tried to put out the start of the fire which affected Belgium on Monday June 19, when Thibaut Courtois did not show up for training, on the eve of the trip to Estonia, counting for the 4th Euro 2024 qualifying day. “After the game [contre l’Autriche, samedi (1-1)]Thibaut suddenly wanted to talk to me and told me that he was going home because he was disappointed and felt insulted”explained Tedesco at a press conference.

The one who took over the reins of the Red Devils last February would have done well without a controversy so early in his mandate, which had started rather well. The latter deplored the attitude of his key player, annoyed at not having inherited the captain’s armband in the absence of Kevin de Bruyne: “In March, we decided that Kevin would be the captain, that there would be two vice-captains: Lukaku and Courtois. I spoke to them before the match, in view of Kevin’s absence. For Austria it was Lukaku, and for Estonia (Tuesday) it was Courtois. The latter told me immediately after the game that he no longer agrees.”.

The coach is not the only one to have little taste of the absence of Courtois. “It’s a deplorable situation. I would prefer Thibaut to be there, but the process of the group is important. It is certain that this process is now disrupted and that a solution will have to be found”, supported defender Jan Vertonghen, the most capped player in the selection. “I wish I could say he left because of an injury but I can’t lie. I always protect but players, but there, it’s impossible “regretted Tedesco, now with a big thorn in the side.