Thibaut Courtois has fired back at Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco after it was claimed he refused to travel for a match after being overlooked for the captaincy against Austria.
Why is Thibaut Courtois upset with the Belgium manager?
The 37-year-old manager stated at the start of the week that the Real Madrid goalkeeper was “offended” after Romelu Lukaku was named captain in the absence of the injured Kevin de Bruyne.
He said (via BBC Sport): “Together we decided that Romelu would be captain against Austria and Thibaut tomorrow against Estonia.
“That was OK for everyone but after the match [Courtois] suddenly wanted to talk to me and said he was going home because he was disappointed and felt offended.”
However, Courtois has now hit back at his national team manager, suggesting that this isn’t at all what happened and that he was just injured.
The goalkeeper took to Instagram to make his feelings known in a rather lengthy social media post, noting that he was “surprised” to hear the comments.
He added: “I want to make it clear that it is not the first time or the last time that I talk to a coach about issues related to a locker room, but it is the first time that someone decides to tell it publicly. I am deeply disappointed with this, but I want to make it clear that the coach’s assessments do not fit with reality.”
Was Courtois actually injured?
As per The Guardian, Tedesco has originally denied any claims of fitness struggles causing the absence, telling his press conference: “I wish I could say it’s an injury, but I can’t lie.”
But Courtois defended his absence, explaining that it was indeed an injury that prevented him from playing, writing: “Furthermore, yesterday afternoon I underwent a check-up for a problem in my right knee. The medical team of my Club and the national team were in contact and reviewed all the corresponding material to make the decision to leave the training camp.”
All in all, it’s a complete mess between player and manager but the goalkeeper did also insist that he didn’t demand anything in regards to the captaincy and he has spoken to Lukaku to “clarify” the situation.
It remains to be seen what will happen next but after such a public fallout, it might be a bit of a surprise if we see Courtois in a Belgium shirt again while Tedesco remains in charge.
