Follow Us on Google
Belgium goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois has taken a year-long break from international duty following the Red Devils’ defeat to Spain in the World Cup quarter finals on Friday.
“I want to rest for a year without any Belgium matches, and then play the EURO qualifiers and the 2028 EURO. I don’t know if Belgium will agree to this,” transfer expert Fabrizio Romano quoted the goalie as saying on Saturday.
With the score at 1-1 at Los Angeles Stadium, Courtois was forced off in the 71st minute after suffering a quadriceps muscle injury.
The tearful veteran was replaced by Senne Lammens, whose costly error allowed substitute Mikel Merino grab an 88th-minute winner for Spain.
Other News
After the encounter, Courtois told the media he wanted to continue but had to defer to head coach Rudi Garcia, who chose not to any further risks for the remainder of the game.
He said, “It’s just a shame to go off. It was a special match. I felt good. I had taken two goal kicks. On the second one, I felt a bit more pain in the quadriceps. I let them know that I couldn’t kick long balls anymore.
“I could have stayed in goal. But the coach told me he would sub me off if I didn’t feel 100 percent. I wanted to keep playing out there, but he then made the decision to replace me. That’s no problem; the team comes before everything.”
The Real Madrid star, 34, has been Belgium’s first-choice goalkeeper for over a decade and played a key role in the team’s run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, where they finished third.
