Angry Kevin de Bruyne lashes out at errant Belgium teammates after France loss

LYON – Belgium captain Kevin de Bruyne launched an angry tirade against his teammates after his side were beaten 2-0 away to France in their Nations League clash on Sept 9.

Not for the first time, the playmaker was visibly frustrated during the Group A2 match and afterwards told Belgian VTM television that too many things had gone wrong in the game.

“I can’t say here what went wrong. I already did that to the team at half-time,” he said.

“I cannot repeat that in the media, but it has to be better in every way. If the standard we want to reach is the best but we’re no longer good enough to get to that level, then you have to give everything. If you don’t even do that, it’s over.”

Belgium had reached the World Cup semi-finals in Russia but the 33-year-old admitted: “I can accept that we’re not as good as in 2018. I was the first to see that, but other things are unacceptable. I’m not going to say what.”

However, when pressed again in the interview after the match he did point out one problem.

“We are too many at the back. If you stay with six at the back, there is no connection. It is what it is. It is not about transition, but about people who do not perform their tasks,” the Manchester City midfielder said.

Coach Domenico Tedesco said he understood de Bruyne’s anger.

“He is our captain and has a huge winning mentality, so he can also react emotionally,” he said.

On the match, he added: “The first 25 minutes and the last 25 minutes we played with the right mentality.

“But everything in between was not enough for me. Then you see that France are just a step ahead. Where we lost our patience, they stayed calm and hurt us a lot with their power.”

Tedesco had acknowledged before the game that his side were too timid and wary of France when they lost 1-0 in the round of 16 at the European Championship in Germany in July.

His team made a lively start to the game in Lyon but were quickly overwhelmed by a superior French side, who bounced back from last week’s 3-1 loss to Italy in Paris to win comfortably.

Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele scored the goals for an under-strength France, with captain Kylian Mbappe dropping out as one of eight changes made by coach Didier Deschamps.

Les Bleus had to weather early attacks before settling into a rhythm and imposing themselves on the contest.

“We were a little nervous at the start of the match, then we did a lot of good things collectively, individually too, with new players who didn’t have the experience,” said Deschamps.

Kolo Muani gave the hosts a 29th-minute lead after Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels scooped a one-handed save from Dembele’s scuffed shot straight into the path of the Paris Saint-Germain striker, who fired home from close range.

Dembele always looked dangerous and got his reward in the 57th minute as he skipped sideways along the edge of the Belgium box before finding space to fire a superb shot past Casteels.

“People tell me I’m too generous and that I try to pass too much. So I decided to try my luck,” Dembele told French TF1 television. “This season I’m going to try my luck even more, to be more selfish.”

Italy won the other Group A2 fixture 2-1 against Israel in Budapest to open up a three-point advantage. France and Belgium are behind with three points each, while Israel have none. REUTERS, AFP