Lots of chances, no goals, an opening defeat against Slovakia: For the German coach of the Belgians, the tournament begins with a setback that he does not want to interpret as such.
Domenico Tedesco spoke about one of his players and sounded like a fan. “He is unbelievable,” said the coach of the Belgian national team about Kevin De Bruyne, “you can’t stop him.” But that’s exactly what had happened just before. If not the Belgian playmaker, then the outsider from Slovakia had at least stopped the recipients of his passes to hold on to a 1-0 win – and create the first big surprise of the European Championship. Tedesco now had to explain it.