Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne blasts his teammates after his team suffered a 2-0 loss to France in their Nations League clash on Monday.
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De Bruyne blasts his teammates
Visibly frustrated, the Manchester City midfielder told Belgian VTM television what actually went wrong in the game.
“I can’t say here what went wrong. I already did that to the team at half-time,” he said.
He added: 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.”
Randal Kolo Muani’s close-range strike and Ousmane Dembele’s left-foot drive gave France a much-needed victory after losing to Italy on Saturday.
France also defeated Belgium in their last meeting in the round of 16 of the European Championship this summer.
“I can accept that we’re not as good as in 2018,” the 33-year-old said, referring to his squad that reached the World Cup semifinals in Russia. “I was the first to see that, but other things are unacceptable. I’m not going to say what.”
Belgium boss understands De Bruyne’s frustration
When reporters continued to press him what had gone wrong, he pointed out one problem.
“We are too many at the back. If you stay with six at the back, there is no connection,” he said. “It is what it is. It is not about transition, but about people who do not perform their tasks.”
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,” the coach said.