Belgium divided at World Cup: 5 players return on private flights to avoid their teammates

In the end, it’s the facts that matter. And the facts speak of a definitive cleavage inside the locker room Belgium, eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar in the worst way: playing badly, wasting all the opportunities on the field and, mainly, in the midst of heated controversies. That until a few hours ago he was hidden under the rug of self-indulgence, trying to focus only on the football being played, only to reappear promptly at the moment of greatest discomfort. Thus, the news echoed by several international bodies reverberates like a sentence return of the selection to Belgium on private flights in addition to the official one provided by the Football Federation.

Not one, not two, but five players chose to leave Qatar on their own, leaving the team to fend for themselves and paying for private jets back to Belgium out of their own pockets: Thomas Meunier, Axel Witsel, Jeremy Doku, Arthur Theate and Lois Openda – as anticipated by Het Laatste Nieuws – they would already be home while everyone else at the party will arrive in the next 24 hours. And if it’s not a clear demonstration of total disconnect within the groupwe’re close.

De Bruyne vs Croatia, the match that will effectively knock Belgium out of the World Cup

So De Bruyne was right, the captain who had discovered the pot that had been boiling for some time and which was stirring up the players who followed Martinez. The interview released shortly before the knockout match against Morocco had aroused discontent and controversy: a team “too old”, he said, unable to speak at this Worlds and who had already given his best years ago. Words that hit the mark but also destabilized the obviously fragile balance of the group: Eden Hazard then underlined that there were consequences after these statements, while Jan Vertonghen directly incited De Bruyne himself, showing all his dissent.

Coach Martinez’s last hug to his players: after the elimination, he resigned

Then, coach Martinez (who will also leave the national group) tried to ignore and minimize the news of conflicts in the locker room, trying to save what could be saved on the eve of the decisive game against Croatia (with a team that averaged more than 31 years old) there was news of a tough clash between Vertonghen, De Bruyne and Hazard in the changing room, shortly after the loss to Morocco. Then, the collapse also on the field with the immense missed opportunities of Belgium and especially of Lukaku, with the sad elimination in the group stage, which determined the end of the Golden Generation, today almost all over 30 years old, which reached the sad end of its international epic in the worst way.