Two months after a frustrating elimination in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 against France (0-1), Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco spoke at length about what he considers to be a personal failure, during a press conference on Friday.
Remorse and a long mea culpa. Initially planned for the announcement of a new selection of the Belgian team before the match against Israel (September 6) and France (September 9), the coach of the Red Devils began the exercise with a ten-minute self-criticism after a Euro 2024 that was bland in terms of play and disappointing in terms of results.
It is above all the frustrating elimination against the French team in the 8th finals – on an own goal by Verthongen – which remains in the mind of the German-Italian technician. A more than closed match in which he admitted to having lacked “courage”.
“I should have been braver and given a different speech at half-time against France. Against the French, we adapted too much to the opponent. It’s a mistake,” said the former RB Leipzig coach, who has been on the Belgian bench since February 2023.
“We adapted too much and lost our strengths”
“France were a superior opponent on paper so we had to adapt to try to win,” he initially explained. “But in hindsight, I think we adapted too much to them. We lost our pressure and our strong points. You always have to adapt a little to your opponent. But we did it too much for this round of 16, it’s a regret,” concluded the coach who also regrets the lack of “pleasure” produced by his team “during the Euro”.
Whose fault is it? Far from blaming his players, Tedesco admitted that he blames no one but himself: “I take responsibility. If there is someone to blame, it is me. You can blame me, but not the players, because they gave their all.”
On September 9, the coach, who produced a surprise list with the debut of a few young players in the A team, will have the opportunity to atone for his failure during the second match of the 2024 Nations League against France.
Related News :