Belgium Coach Admits Team Lost Its Way in Euro 2024

Belgium football coach Domenico Tedesco admitted on Friday that his team lost its way during Euro 2024 and did not enjoy the tournament at all, which took place in Germany.

Tedesco spent about 20 minutes of a press conference evaluating his performance and the team’s in Euro 2024, where Belgium exited in the Round of 16 despite being one of the favorites for the title.

After a surprise defeat in their opening match against Slovakia, their first loss in 15 games under Tedesco, the team beat Romania but then played a lackluster draw against Ukraine, which led to boos from their fans, despite the result being enough to secure second place in Group E and advance to the knockout stage.

Tedesco, 38, remarked about the goalless draw against Ukraine in Stuttgart: “This match was pivotal because many things changed afterward. I felt we lost our way. The mood and the feeling were not the same.”

In the Round of 16 match against France in Düsseldorf, Belgium conceded the only goal of the match five minutes before the end. Tedesco said they spent too much time focusing on their opponents’ strengths rather than their own.

He added: “The game was not as strong as we usually play. We adapted too much. This doesn’t mean we won’t analyze opponents in the future; we have to know their strengths and weaknesses, but as we did in the past, we should focus 80 percent on our strengths.”

He accepted responsibility for everything that went wrong.

Belgian players were booed during the Ukraine match, prompting captain Kevin De Bruyne to react angrily and ask his teammates to leave the field without acknowledging the fans.

Tedesco also addressed this issue during a press conference where he announced his squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against Israel and France: “The boos were a big surprise because we had qualified. If you talk to some of the experienced players, they are still very shocked.”