Interview with Kevin De Bruyne ‘normal’, says Belgium boss amid retirement speculation

Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco said it was “good” for captain Kevin De Bruyne’s “emotional and embarrassing” public criticism of his side after their 2-0 defeat by France in the Uefa Nations League.

De Bruyne, who scored twice in the Red Devils’ 3-1 win at home to Israel in their first game on Friday, revealed he had spoken to his teammates at half-time in Lyon, adding that “some things are not acceptable” for the national side.

Much to Belgium’s concern, the 33-year-old was caught talking to technical director Frank Vercauteren on the pitch where he was interpreted by some Belgian journalists as saying “I will quit”.

Kevin De Bruyne got married after the défaite de la Belgique 🇧🇪.

Dans cette series, some journalists believe that Kevin De Bruyne of “Ik Stop” (“J’​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

🎥 @RTLsportsbe pic.twitter.com/GOhqSVV1pG

– Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) September 10, 2024

Kevin De Bruyne interview ’emotional’

“Kevin has a winning mentality,” replied Tedesco, telling Belgian outlet VTM, via Nieuwsblad, that he had yet to hear De Bruyne’s interview.

“He’s emotional and disappointed and that’s okay. I will analyze that later. The feeling is that we lost control after 25 minutes.

“Yes, it’s normal to be disappointed. We needed to score in the first 25 minutes because we had three good chances – not few.

“But this is a problem we have had for a long time. If you want to achieve something here against France in France, you have to take your chances, especially when you have such a good start.”

Asked about suggestions that De Bruyne could retire from international football, Tedesco replied: “No, no – look, we were sad after the game. For a person. We must calm down and analyze [matters] at the best time.”

30 goals for Belgium. 👑🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/8gqv7T8gOl

– Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) September 7, 2024

De Bruyne: Belgium ‘must be better’

The Manchester City midfielder was not direct in his comments. “I won’t say here what went wrong,” he said. “I had already done that to the team when it was time for the break.

“I will not repeat that in the media but it should be better in every way. If the level we want to reach is the best but we can no longer reach that level, then you have to sacrifice everything. If you don’t do that, it’s over.”

The City player who has played four times this season may “accept” that the current Belgium team is inferior to the one that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

“I started to see that, but some things are not acceptable,” he said. “I can’t say anything.

France vs Belgium

Belgium went on a 13-match unbeaten run following the appointment of former Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig manager Tedesco in March 2023.

Their first defeat of his reign came as a surprise against Slovakia in their UEFA Euro 2024 opener, where they beat Romania and drew with Ukraine before being beaten 1-0 by France.

Randal Kolo Muani scored in the 29th minute and Ousmane Dembele added a second in the 57th minute in Belgium’s latest defeat, leaving them three points behind Group A2 leaders Italy.

Mbappé 🤝 KDB#League of Nations pic.twitter.com/QnwJuzD6oq

– UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) September 9, 2024

“It is difficult to judge other teams, so I have to judge my team,” said Tedesco. “When we talk about France, you can see what kind of players they have in defense, what kind of players they have in the middle of the field.

“We have to understand that we will go home with zero points after this game. That hurts.”

Belgium visit Italy on October 10 (7.45pm BST) and host France four days later (7.45pm). City are at home to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm).