Belgium boss Roberto Martinez has conceded that a player has a right to their own view but that “comments won’t help” the country to success, after Kevin De Bruyne said the squad was “too old” to win the World Cup.
The nation fell to a startling 2-0 defeat to Morocco on Sunday, meaning they can only guarantee a place in the knockouts with a win over Croatia, although a draw could be enough if Morocco lose by three or more goals to Canada.
Either way, Belgium have been underwhelming in both of their group games so far, only narrowly beating Canada 1-0 despite being outplayed prior to Sunday’s abject display. This tournament is seen as the final throw of the dice for the country’s ‘golden generation’, who finished third at Russia 2018.
Speaking after the win over Canada, Manchester City hero De Bruyne alarmingly stated that he believes Belgium have “no chance” of winning the World Cup due to the squad being “too old”.
When asked about De Bruyne’s comments after the defeat to Morocco, Martinez stated that it was “the first time I’ve heard those comments.” He added: “At a World Cup players have to speak to the media every day, 90 per cent of it will be positive but there are always one or two lines that don’t fit into the context.
“We are all professionals and we know how to perform. A player is allowed to air their view. We’ve been together for six years now and comments won’t help us to win. Maybe it was a double-bluff. It’s what happens behind the scenes that matters.”
Belgium in fact have the fifth-oldest squad in the competition, with a squad average age of 27.8. Pre-tournament favourites Brazil and Argentina both have older squads while Iran tops the list with an average age of 28.9, ahead of Mexico’s 28.5.
However, just one of Belgium’s starting XI against Morocco was under the age of 29 with the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Axel Witsel well into their 30s.
Boss Martinez has been criticised for not being able to do more with the Belgium side during his six-year tenure. After losing to eventual champions France in 2018, Belgium succumbed to eventual winner Italy in the quarter-finals at Euro 2020.