Noisy With Belgium Coach, Thibaut Courtois Goalkeeper Chooses Absent At Euro 2024

Belgian national team goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. (Instagram @thibautcourtois)

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois refuses to strengthen Belgium at Euro 2024. Apart from being still recovering from a knee injury, Courtois made a fuss with Domenico coach Tedesco.

Courtois suffered an ACL injury to his left knee which forced him to pull out for a long time because he had to undergo surgery. Even though he is currently undergoing the recovery process, Courtois cannot confirm when he will return to the arena.

However, the 31-year-old goalkeeper has stated that he will not strengthen the Belgian national team at Euro 2024. He has predicted that his condition will not recover when the European Cup is held on June 14-14 July 2024.

"If I see my injury, it seems I will miss the European Cup. For now, I am focused on getting a 100% recovery. It's better not to determine when I will actually recover," Courtois said.

"If I'm lucky, I can play again in May. However, I'm still not 100% ready for a big tournament," he said again.

The Belgian football federation actually hopes Courtois recovers soon. Thus, the former Chelsea goalkeeper can return to standing under the national team's crossbar.

"I think it's better for me to clarify for the national team. I won't stand under the bar if my condition is only 80%. Meanwhile, we have some good goalkeepers. I'll just be a supporter and hope we can win Europe," Courtois said again.

The problem is, Courtois doesn't just recover his knee, but he does have a fight with Tedesco. Because Courtois was disappointed with the coach who declared himself to be injured.

It all started when he did not strengthen Austria in the match which ended in a 1-1 draw last June.

After the match, Courtois left the team's training camp that was preparing for Estonia. At that time, Tedesco accused the goalkeeper who had 102 caps of being just pretending to be injured.

The coach said Courtois was disappointed that he was no longer the captain of the national team. He also revealed that the goalkeeper was actually not injured.

Meanwhile, Courtois has apologized to fans and players for leaving the training camp.

He admitted that he was frustrated and disappointed with Tedesco's attitude that he did not appreciate it. Courtois was disappointed that he was not trusted and was even accused of pretending to be really injured.

"I feel the federation and the coach no longer respect me. Tedesco is about to attack me. After what happened and you destroy your trust, it will be difficult to recover it," he said.

"For now, there is no solution because it concerns trust relations," said Courtois.

The Federation actually wants to bridge the dispute so that they make peace. But the effort failed. However, Courtois did not rule out returning to the national team.