In the first round against Canada, they somehow got through, but in the second, Morocco got them – and got them well. After yesterday’s defeat, the Belgians found themselves on the verge of elimination and they are aware that if they do not beat Croatia in the last round, they can pack their bags. And it will not be a surprise if that happens, because the Belgian national team not only looks bad on the pitch, but in the dressing room, the situation is not any better.Football players seem to have split into clans, the group has disintegrated. No one wants to take responsibility, everyone puts the blame on others. Even before the match with Morocco, Eden Hazard pointed his finger at the defenders, specifically Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.”Our defenders are not the fastest in the world, but they know it themselves. The solution? Put faster players,” Hazard said.##NAJAVA_MECA_6843383##Kevin de Bruyne also had a say, highlighting the age of the team whose average age is 27.8, lower only than Brazil’s (27.9), Mexico’s (28.5) and Iran’s (28.9).”We have no chance to win the World Cup, we are too old. I think we had a chance in 2018. We have a good team, but we are getting old. We lost a few key players. We have some good up-and-coming players, but they are not at the level of 2018. I see us more as an outsider rather than a favourite,” De Bruyne said.The Manchester City player also let coach Roberto Martinez know that he does not agree with his tactics.”I understand the criticism of our tactics, but as a player I cannot change them. If the coach wants to play that way, we have to support him one hundred percent.”Michy Batshuayi was also criticized by De Bruyne.”Michy is doing a good job but he’s just not the same caliber as Romelu Lukaku.”The oldest player on the team, Jan Vertonghen replied to his teammate’s criticism.”Probably we attacked poorly because we are too old. We didn’t create enough chances. We conceded the same goal twice at the first post,” the Anderlecht stopper retorted.Yesterday, Kevin De Bruyne said that Belgium are ‘too old’ to win the World Cup.This is what Jan Vertonghen had to say after Morocco held them scoreless in a 2-0 win today 😳 pic.twitter.com/4CLHh9oql6— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 27, 2022 Thibaut Courtois blamed Thomas Meunier for the first goal because he made an unnecessary foul beforehand.”We make mistakes that we shouldn’t. Completely unnecessary,” the Real goalkeeper pointed out.Martinez has a difficult task ahead of him, to unite the team and improve the atmosphere before the match with Croatia. This is what the Spanish expert devoted most of his time to at today’s conference.”It’s normal that there are tensions. They occur automatically. The players have been together for a long time. It’s like a family. If you don’t have tensions and disagreements, there are no emotions. There are a lot of emotions after a defeat like this, but I remain rational and realistic,” Martinez said.Belgian journalists point out that the golden generation of football there had not gone through an identical situation before.”All this is understandable. That’s how it is in a team of winners, strong personalities. They come from the dressing rooms of the biggest clubs in the world. And there are tensions after a defeat, so I can understand the reactions. Because of all those emotions, I have to keep a cool head. That’s why I from today I’m 100 percent focused on how to beat Croatia. My job is to make sure that’s the case among the players as well.”World Cup riots in Brussels after Morocco beat BelgiumMartinez assures that there are no divisions in the team.”Nothing has changed in the dressing room. We are still looking in the same direction. We have our specialist Jeff Brouwers working with the team remotely. We have already had the conversation. The family visits had a great effect. We have 25 players available and I will find the best possible approach for the match with Croatia. Let’s stay pragmatic. We can still go through to the second round.”Martinez admits that he himself made certain mistakes.”Of course I made wrong decisions and misjudged some things. I get information from every training session and game. It’s not up to me to talk about it in public, but then you see things yourself. A coach makes 20 to 25 decisions during the day. Sometimes things can to go wrong, but every decision is made on the basis of something. The outcome can be different than expected. It would be foolish to think that you never make wrong decisions,” said the Belgian coach with honesty.
