Thibaut Courtois will be missing for Belgium tomorrow evening in the European Championship qualifier against Estonia. The goalkeeper (31) surprisingly did not show up at the remainder of the Red Devils’ training camp in Tubize last night. Courtois, who also has a minor knee injury, would be disappointed by a captaincy issue in the team of national coach Domenico Tedesco.
The selection of the Belgians gathered again in Tubize last night after Saturday’s 1-1 against Austria. Tomorrow the Red Devils will play against Estonia in Tallinn. To the surprise of many, Thibaut Courtois was missing at the appeal, while national coach Domenico Tedesco had said on Saturday that the selection would travel completely to Estonia.
Courtois would even wear the captain’s armband tomorrow. ,,Thibaut is very important to us”, said Tedesco on Saturday. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him. On Saturday I had a conversation with Romelu (Lukaku) and Thibaut about the captaincy: against Austria it was Lukaku, against Estonia Thibaut gets the credit. It is important to us that he also feels valued.”
Tedesco’s last sentence was especially striking. As if he still wanted to placate the honorable Courtois. The Real Madrid goalkeeper was honored on Saturday for his 100th international match, but he was not captain in Brussels. While Courtois would have loved to wear that band against Austria in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne. According to Red Devils sources, the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported this morning, Courtois was not happy with how the national coach had handled the captaincy issue. After the duel with the Austrians, Courtois did not show up.
Tedesco has some explaining to do at the press conference tonight in Tallinn. Courtois, who also suffers from a slight inflammation in the knee, will be replaced tomorrow evening by Matz Sels, who will play his third international match. After all, Koen Casteels is also not there due to an injury. Thomas Kaminski and Arnaud Bodart are the other goalkeepers in the selection.
Belgium is currently second in group F of the European Championship qualifications, with four points after two matches. Austria leads with seven points after three games. Estonia has only one point from two matches.
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