Domenico Tedesco loses his leading players

 

“Tedesco démission!” was the unmistakable and unmistakable verdict: Tedesco out! In the final phase of the Nations League game against France on Monday evening, numerous Belgian fans in the Brussels National Stadium called for the dismissal of national coach Domenico Tedesco.

Even before the game started, they made their displeasure known when Tedesco’s name was mentioned after the team roster was read out. They whistled at him. That’s part of football, the 39-year-old tried to calm the tense mood. He could understand people if they were disappointed with the results.

Repeated bankruptcies against France

This year, the Belgians lost three times in a row against their feared opponents France, on Monday 1:2 (1:1) – even though they had the advantage for more than a quarter of an hour after France’s Aurélien Tchouaméni was sent off. They were previously defeated in the European Championship round of 16 (0:1) and in the first leg of the Nations League (0:2). The last competitive win against their arch rivals dates back to the 1981 World Cup qualification.

The result caused a kind of hellfire among Belgium’s Red Devils. Because of the defeat, Belgium will probably miss the final round of the Nations League and will have to complete the relegation play-off. The Paris daily newspaper “Le Parisien” mocked that Belgium was a football country that was “practicing self-sabotage”.

The paper also alluded to the 2018 World Cup semi-final, when Belgium was eliminated despite superiority against the French and thus once again missed out on their hoped-for first triumph. At that time, the talented team, which current FC Bayern coach Vincent Kompany led as captain at the time, was at its peak of creativity; It was referred to at home as the “golden generation”. We didn’t get as far in tournaments after that. The 2022 World Cup came to a disastrous end; the team was eliminated in the preliminary round due to internal disagreements.

As a result, some players and coach Roberto Martínez resigned. Martínez’ Italian-German successor Tedesco was supposed to introduce the team and a generational change around the remaining exceptional players Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois.

Instead, the German coach, who had previously coached RB Leipzig and Schalke 04, only seemed to further divide the fragile structure with an unattractive style of play and debatable personnel selection. At the 2024 European Championship, the team was mercilessly booed after the preliminary round because they ended up drawing a draw in the last group game against Ukraine to secure second place. In his analysis after the tournament, Tedesco admitted that he had “not felt a single moment of joy” during the European Championships.

After the European Championship exit, Captain De Bruyne snapped when asked about the so-called golden generation: “What is a golden generation?” He then revealed his frustration with the state of the national team in September when, after another defeat against France, he cursed on the sidelines and threatened to end his career with the national team.

“Ik stop,” De Bruyne’s lips said: I’ll stop! With his head glowing red, the playmaker spared neither his teammates nor the coach. If there is no longer enough for the top, you at least have to give everything – which some people didn’t do. In addition, he complained at the time that there were “too many people at the back,” which is why there was hardly any connection to the front. He kept rubbing his eyes. Since winning the 2021 European Championship round of 16 against Portugal, Belgium has not won a competitive game against a nation that is in the top 20 in the world rankings.

The 33-year-old canceled the international matches in October and the next ones in November. He recently missed Manchester City with an injury, but his coach Josep Guardiola said the injury wasn’t a big deal. Tedesco justified De Bruyne’s absence by saying that he could “take care of his body.”

In principle, De Bruyne has promised to stay on board until the 2026 World Cup, while his contract in Manchester expires at the end of the season. All he needs is a title with Belgium to gild his career. De Bruyne has won all sorts of trophies in club football.

Lukaku and Courtois also remain away from the national team

In addition to De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku also decided against an appointment; he had already asked Tedesco not to consider him in September. At that time, the attacker had only moved from Chelsea to SSC Napoli on the last day of the transfer and did not believe he was in adequate physical condition. Now the coach confirmed that Lukaku continues to struggle with full-game appearances – even though he had recently been in the starting line-up in all league games in Napoli and was only substituted late in the second half.

Lukaku’s absence seems like a bitter punchline for Tedesco, who had consistently strengthened the striker so far. The coach even antagonized Real Madrid’s world-class goalie Courtois. In a game that was personally important for Courtois in June 2023, Tedesco took the captain’s armband away from him (in the absence of De Bruyne) – and gave it to Lukaku. Courtois left in a huff and Tedesco made the matter public. Since then, the 32-year-old has not played a game for the Belgian national team. The goalie recently announced that he would no longer play for Belgium under Tedesco.

The team’s problems correlate with the quarrels within the association. Tedesco has met around four CEOs during his time as Belgian national coach since February 2023. In order to increase competence, Tedesco hired technical director Frank Vercauteren. His contract expires at the end of the year and will not be extended. The coach’s contract runs until the 2026 World Cup.