Kevin de Bruyne furiously ordered his Belgium crew to go away the pitch after they have been booed by their very own followers following their goalless draw with Ukraine at Euro 2024.
Belgium booked their place within the final 16 of the competitors on Wednesday evening however it got here after one other very underwhelming efficiency on the ultimate evening of Group E motion.
All 4 groups completed on 4 factors with Romania topping the group with Belgium progressing as runners up – feeding them right into a knockout tie in opposition to France on Monday.
Like England, Belgium have flattered to deceive in Germany, successful simply one among their three group video games with simply two targets scored. Regardless of reaching the final 16, Belgian followers in attendance have been livid with their nation’s newest exhibiting, with boos and whistles raining down on the finish of the match.
Belgium gamers approached their followers to applaud them for his or her assist however because the boos continued, captain de Bruyne intervened and urged his teammates to go for the dressing room.
De Bruyne’s teammate Yannick Carrasco, who got here on instead, instructed the Belgian press the squad determined in opposition to going again out onto the pitch to greet supporters, describing the reception as ‘unacceptable’.
‘The qualification has been achieved, we’re very pleased with that as a gaggle,’ Carrasco mentioned, Het Nieuwsblad report.
‘That’s why we don’t perceive this response from the followers. That may be very disappointing. None of us have but returned from the dressing room to greet the supporters. We determined that collectively. We don’t discover this acceptable. You shouldn’t overlook the place we come from, we now compete totally in each match.’
Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco was additionally shocked by the response, urging supporters to stay with the gamers.
‘To be trustworthy, I’m shocked, I didn’t anticipate this,’ Tedesco mentioned. ‘Qualifying was all that mattered. After the loss within the first match, situations didn’t change into simpler, however after we straightened out in opposition to Romania, everybody was glad once more.
‘My gamers don’t perceive that we at the moment are being whistled at. It was additionally a giant shock for me to watch that. We’d like our supporters, we want one another. Ukraine was a troublesome opponent. We did all the things we might to attain, we have now to just accept this now.’
Belgium will now shift focus to France, who themselves struggled to impress within the group phases, ending as runners up behind Austria.
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