Eliminated in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 by the French team, Jérémy Doku is struggling to digest the scenario of this defeat of Belgium. Speaking to RMC, the Manchester City winger believes that the Blues scored a “lucky goal”, and were “not that dangerous”.
A frustrating scenario for Jérémy Doku, who has been excellent since the start of Euro 2024, but was well muzzled by Jules Koundé during Belgium’s elimination by the French team in the round of 16 (1-0). Dominated in the game by the Blues who struggled to get their goal on target, the Red Devils gave in to a shot from Randal Kolo Muani, deflected by defender Jan Vertonghen. A scenario that the Manchester City winger cannot stomach: “Did you see the goal they scored? That’s how it is, it’s a bit of luck. They had chances, but mostly shots from afar,” he said after the match.
>> Relive the qualification of the Blues
Despite the domination of Didier Deschamps’ men, the Belgians had dangerous opportunities, notably via Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku who came up against a Mike Maignan who was still decisive. A lack of realism regretted by Doku, who believes that the Blues did not worry the Belgians that much: “They were not that dangerous. We were well positioned and we had opportunities too (…) The few opportunities we had, we had to put them in the back of the net. Our regrets? Efficiency. Before they scored, we had opportunities too.”
“To concede a goal like that is luck”
While the former Rennes player readily acknowledges the solidity of the defensive pair Upamecano-Saliba, he once again returned to this own goal from Vertonghen which eliminated his team from the tournament: “They were well positioned, like us. They have high-level defenders. (…) Conceding a goal like that is luck. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Often entrenched in their camp, the Belgians were very discreet on the offensive side, despite the surprise starting role of Loïs Openda, who was almost non-existent. Questioned about this surprising game plan, Doku assures that he and his team were not afraid of the Blues: “Afraid of playing them? Not at all, we weren’t afraid. You have to analyze the teams carefully. Being more of a block than usual didn’t mean we were afraid, it’s being smart, playing on our qualities. It worked today, we conceded a lucky goal, but that’s how it is.”
