Brussels: Belgium have called up Axel Witsel for next month’s Euro 2024 squad in Germany, but there is no place for Thibaut Courtois despite the Real Madrid goalkeeper’s performance in Saturday’s Champions League final.
Coach Domenico Tedesco announced his 25-man squad on Tuesday, recalled Witsel. Tedesco visited the 35-year-old Atletico Madrid defender to encourage his return to the team.
Witsel won the last of his 130 caps at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of 2022, when Belgium were eliminated in the group stage.
Courtois was left out of the Belgium squad last June due to the retirement of Eden Hazard, causing a public misunderstanding with Tedesco.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper was criticized by teammates, and later apologized, but the rift between him and the coach was not resolved.
Shortly after the trip, Courtois was sidelined for most of the season with a serious knee injury, only returning to Real Madrid earlier this month to feature in Saturday’s final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
The latest information is that he is not ready for the European Championship. He knows his body best,” Tedesco said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“He is the main player of Atletico Madrid. I met him, we want to see him, look him in the eye. In this situation, experience is important. We are playing in the European Championship, that it’s not a small thing,” he said.
Club Brugge’s Maxime De Kuyper is the only player in the squad. “I have been following Maxime De Kuyper for a long time but I did not have the opportunity to choose him before, but now he deserves to be in the squad,” said Tedesco, who chose 25 players instead of the 26 allowed by. UEFA. group.
Belgium’s most capped international Van Wertonghen is 37 years old and has 154 caps. The squad also includes top goalscorer Romelu Lukaku, who has netted 83 times in 114 appearances for his country.
team:
Goalkeepers: Koen Kasteels (VfL Wolfsburg), Thomas Kaminski (Luton City), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Maxime De Kuyper (Club Brugge), Zeno Debast (Anderlecht), Wout Faes (Leicester City), Thomas Meunier (Trabzonspor), Van Wertonghen (Anderlecht), Arthur Theat (Stade Rennais), Axel Witsel (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Anannik Carrasco (Al Shabab), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Orel Mangala (Olympiade Lyon), Amadou Onana (Everton), Yuri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Arthur Wermeeren (Atletico Madrid), Aster Wranks (vfL Wolfsburg)
