Kevin De Bruyne threatens to quit international football after criticising Belgium’s tactics
Kevin De Bruyne’s international future is in doubt after he criticised Belgium’s tactics and footage emerged of his frustration when talking to technical director Frank Vercauteren.
The Manchester City midfielder, 33, was filmed pitchside after the 2-0 defeat to defeat to France and Belgian newspaper HLN translated his comments to Vercauteren as: “I quit. I quit.”
De Bruyne, who has won 107 caps, was furious in post-match interviews at Parc Olympique Lyonnais and insisted Belgium had to “be better in every way” and that parts of their performance were “unacceptable”.
“I cannot repeat that in the media but it has to be better in every way,” he said to Belgian broadcaster VTM. “If the standard we want to reach is the best, but we’re no longer good enough to get to that level, then you have to give everything.
“If you don’t even do that, it’s over. If you stay with six at the back, there is no connection,” he added. “It is what it is. It is not about transition, but about people who do not perform their tasks.”
De Bruyne has played for his country for 14 years and was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco was asked about De Bruyne’s comments and said he understood the frustration. “He is our captain and has a huge winning mentality, so he can also react emotionally,” said Tedesco, whose team was defeated by goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele.
“It’s normal that we’re disappointed. We had things under control but we have to score. We had three chances, one of them a clear chance at goal, but this is a problem that we’ve carried on for a long time.”