‘Deeply disappointed’: Courtois contradicted coach Tedesco

In a statement published late Monday evening, the Real Madrid professional was “deeply disappointed” on social media that Tedesco had made the content of an internal conversation public. He wanted to make it clear “that the trainer’s assessments do not correspond to reality”.

Initially, the Belgian association announced without giving any reason that Courtois would not play in the European Championship qualifier against Estonia on (today) Tuesday evening. This “surprised and shocked him,” Tedesco then said at the press conference on the game. According to Belgian media reports, the 31-year-old goalkeeper is furious at not being given the captain’s ribbon after Kevin de Bruyne’s injury in the 1-1 draw with Austria last Saturday. Instead of Courtois, Tedesco had made striker Romelu Lukaku captain. After the game, Courtois was offended and announced that he wanted to go home, Tedesco said.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t reach my goal”

Courtois, on the other hand, stated that “in no case did he ask for anything” in the conversation with the German coach. He was only concerned with avoiding situations that would have damaged the team in the past. “To be or not to be the national team captain is neither a whim nor an arbitrary decision,” wrote the Real Madrid keeper. “It should be his decision and I tried to convey that to him. Unfortunately, I didn’t achieve my goal.”

He also spoke to Lukaku, Courtois said, but not to other teammates as has been claimed. At the end of his statement, the 102-time international also informed that he underwent an examination on Sunday afternoon for problems in his right knee. “My club’s and national team’s medical team have been in touch and reviewed all the relevant material to make the decision to leave the training camp.”