Belgium suffered a disappointing defeat to Morocco in their second World Cup group match on Sunday, which leaves their hopes of qualifying in jeopardy. The truth is, their performance against Canada was hardly impressive and this discontent is evidence of growing tension off the pitch.
Diario AS reference L’Equipe in their claim that on Monday the Belgium squad held crisis talks in order to resolve tension ahead of their final group game against Croatia. Romelu Lukaku is acting as the chief mediator in the matter.
This is the latest episode in a series of disagreements in the Belgium squad which have been described as beyond repair. Even Lukaku himself holds a distant relationship with Michy Batshuayi. Eden Hazard does not get on with Leandro Trossard, while Thibaut Courtois and Kevin de Bruyne struggle to keep matters civil too.
A somewhat understandable situation, after Thibaut Courtois allegedly had an affair with de Bruyne’s former girlfriend Caroline Lijnen several years ago.
Quotes recently emerged from de Bruyne saying that Belgium had no chance to win the World Cup before the tournament, and it certainly seems tricky that matters would be sufficiently repaired in order to salvage their team. The mental state of a team is frequently undervalued in analysis and in a tense workplace, the product is rarely successful.