The attitude of Thibaut Courtois during the Belgium rally last June is still making serious waves. His whim has not been forgotten.
The episode caused a stir in football Belgium. Last June, Thibaut Courtois suddenly left his national team gathering, citing a knee injury. An excuse which did not really convince the supporters of the Red Devils, no more than certain teammates. No one saw rather a sulk from the goalkeeper after learning that his coach, Domenico Tedesco, would not give him the captain’s armband against Estonia. Four months later, the episode is still very present and for Timothy Castagne, the question of the benefit of a return of Thibaut Courtois arises.
To prevent the psychodrama from resuming, the Belgian right-back openly questioned the benefit of recalling the Real Madrid player. In an interview published by Le Soir, Castagne did not hesitate to question his teammate’s attitude. “ From my point of view, if Thibaut had wanted to, he could have stayed. But it’s his choice. » And the Fulham player drove the point home: “ He played with the press and we didn’t need that. (…) It would be strange if Thibaut came back as if nothing had happened. Afterwards, it will be a problem to be resolved between Thibaut and the coach (…) We have to ask ourselves the question: do we want to sacrifice the Red Devils group for a player?“
Castagne already apologizes
On Tuesday, Thimothy Castagne, however, took a step back. During the press conference at which he was present with his selection, he made a point of apologizing. “ The timing of this interview was not good. I shouldn’t have talked about this subject before important qualifying matches. » And he added, in comments relayed by the Belgian site DH, that he had apologized to Thibaut Courtois. “ Yes, we spoke. I won’t reveal what we said to each other. What if he doesn’t want me? You’ll have to ask him but I don’t think so. (…) I shouldn’t have done that, and he knows that.“
Victim of a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg just before the start of the season, Thibaut Courtois is currently recovering and has returned to training for a month. On the last rally and on this one, the question of his return to the selection did not arise. Very soon, however, it will be put back on the table. Coach Domenico Tedesco will then have to have a frank discussion with the goalkeeper.
