The European giants failed to win against a ten-man Kazakhstan team, conceding a 1-1 draw in Astana on Saturday.
Belgium held in check
The Red Devils, who have won only one of their last three international matches, were held to a draw (1-1) by Kazakhstan after falling behind. Rudi Garcia’s team conceded the opener in the ninth minute when Dastan Satpayev recovered a poorly cleared ball in defense. Belgium then reacted at the start of the second half, Hans Vanaken equalizing on an assist from Timothy Castagne.
Kazakhstan found itself at 10 in the 79th minute following the direct expulsion of its striker Islam Chesnokov, but Belgium was unable to take advantage of its numerical superiority to drive the point home.
Doku attacks his Belgian teammates.
After the match, a frustrated Doku lashed out at his teammates in front of reporters: “We have already lost too many points because we were not up to par in many matches. Our campaign is not going well, no. Everyone must do better. The coach, me, everyone. Kevin, Romelu, Thibaut… If we need them to win against Kazakhstan, then we won’t be able to do anything in the World Cup. We looked at this team and thought they would play long, but ultimately they played short and started to develop their game. It was a completely different match than the last. Perhaps we didn’t analyze our opponent enough. »
Defender Arthur Theate also expressed his frustration: “I don’t disagree. But if you concede a goal, that’s the problem. If you don’t score, it’s the offense’s fault. Of course we shouldn’t have conceded that goal, but we haven’t conceded many this season. Certainly, conceding three goals at home against Wales would not have been acceptable. But otherwise, we weren’t really put in danger. You be the judge. I just think we’re having a good season defensively. »
