Things have happened in the Belgian national team ahead of the European Championship qualifier against Sweden on March 24. Domenico Tedesco has taken over as the new national team captain and as far as the squad is concerned, a number of names have disappeared.
After the WC, stars such as Eden Hazard, Toby Alderweireld and Simon Mignolet have joined the national team. In addition, Dries Mertens, Youri Tielemans or Michy Batshuayi are not judged to be in good enough physical condition for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.
When Tedesco presented his squad for the match against Sweden on Friday, however, Axel Witsel’s absence was the most notable. The 34-year-old Atletio Madrid midfielder, who has 130 senior caps to his credit, is being poked.
– I went to Madrid to explain my decision to him. It wasn’t an easy decision to make but he appreciated that I went there in person to tell him, says Tedesco.
– It was a difficult decision. But the door is still open for him. I hope Witsel doesn’t intend to quit now.
Neither Leander Dendoncker gets a place in the squad, which however contains superstars such as Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku.
Something that stirred up feelings in Belgium is the fact that Tedesco ditched players from the domestic Ligue 1 Genk. Neither Bryan Heynen nor Mike Tresor get the chance.
– I’m disappointed. We will evaluate our cooperation with the association internally, says Genk’s sporting director Dimitri de Condé according to Het Laatste Nieuws.
– I note that players who do not play in their club teams are withdrawn. I think this is totally disrespectful towards our club.
Tedesco’s response:
– It was not easy to leave Tresor out of the squad. But the competition in his position is tough.
Players such as Charles de Ketelaere, Alexis Saelemaekers, Jeremy Doku, Dennis Praet and Thomas Meunier are included even though they get little playing time on a daily basis.
Sweden’s national team captain Janne Andersson presented his squad for the EC qualifying matches against Belgium and Azerbaijan on Wednesday. It includes, for example, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Belgium squad: Koen Casteels, Thibaut Courtois, Thomas Kaminski, Matz Sels; Sebastiaan Bornauw, Yannick Carrasco, Timothy Castagne, Kevin de Bruyne, Charles de Ketelaere, Zeno Debast, Jeremy Doku, Wout Faes, Romeo Lavia, Romelu Lukaku, Dodi Lukebakio, Orel Mangala, Thomas Meunier, Amadaou Onana, Lois Openda, Dennis Praet, Alexis Saelemaekers, Arthur Theate, Leandro Trossard, Jan Vertonghen
