Courtois denies rumors of leaving the Belgian national team just because Lukaku was given the captain's armband

At a press conference on June 19, coach Domenico Tedesco confirmed that the Real Madrid goalkeeper had refused to participate in Belgium's next match against Estonia. According to the 37-year-old coach, Courtois felt insulted when he was not given the captain's armband in the match against Austria on June 17 despite the absence of captain Kevin De Bruyne. Instead, Lukaku was the player chosen by coach Domenico Tedesco.

After the match against Austria, Courtois went to coach Domenico Tedesco and announced that he would leave the team. The reason given by the Real Madrid star was that he was injured and could not join his teammates.

“I wish I could say it was an injury, but I can’t lie. I spoke to Romelu and Thibaut about the captaincy. Against Austria it was Lukaku, against Estonia it was Thibaut Courtois. But now he’s out of the team,” the Belgium coach said on June 19.

Courtois bác bỏ tin đồn rời đội tuyển Bỉ vì Lukaku được trao tấm băng đội trưởng - Ảnh 1. — Lukaku was the captain of the Belgian team in the most recent match.

After coach Domenico Tedesco's statement, Courtois was very angry. The Real Madrid goalkeeper responded to the Belgian coach with a post on his personal page. The 31-year-old goalkeeper still insisted that he was injured and that his departure from the Belgian team had absolutely nothing to do with Lukaku.

Courtois shared: “This afternoon, I was surprised to listen to the coach's press conference, in which he only told part of the story and gave his subjective opinion about our private conversation after the match with Austria.

I want to make it clear that this is not the first time I have spoken to a coach about dressing room issues. But this is the first time someone has decided to make it public. I am extremely disappointed about this. I want to make it clear that the coach's assessment does not correspond to reality. I confirm that in any case I did not ask for anything and I spoke to Romelu Lukaku to clarify all the relevant situations. Furthermore, yesterday afternoon I went for a check-up and discovered a problem in my right knee.

Along with Romelu Lukaku, Courtois is one of the two vice-captains of the Belgian national team. Courtois was honored in the match against Austria when he made 100 appearances for the “Red Devils”. The best goalkeeper of the 2018 World Cup always played excellently and was considered an indispensable part of the golden generation of the Belgian team.