Operated on August 17 on the anterior ligament of the left knee, Thibaut Courtois announced in an interview with the Belgian media Sporza that he would not participate in the next Euro. “ Due to my injury, there will be no Euro 2024 for me anyway”explained the 31-year-old Belgian goalkeeper (102 caps).
“I prefer not to give a date for my return to competition. I need to recover 100% from my injury first. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to play another match in May. But you can never be 100% ready for a big tournament, added the player, focused on his return to Real Madrid, his club since 2018. I think it is best to immediately bring this clarity to the national team. I’m not going to be in goal at 80%, even though we have other good goalkeepers. I’m putting my honor aside and will just be another supporter in June. I hope they win Euro 2024.”
Courtois’ package opens the door to Matz Sels (31 years old), the Strasbourg goalkeeper, and Koen Casteels (31 years old, Wolfsburg). One of the two should start at the Euro in Germany. Since the withdrawal of Courtois, Sels has played four matches (three Euro qualifiers, one friendly) Castels has been involved in three matches (Euro qualifiers).
“It was a bad decision to leave after the Austria match. I would like to apologize to the team and especially to the supporters”
During this interview, Courtois returned to his withdrawal from the national team after the match against Austria (1-1) on June 17. “The fact of no longer feeling the recognition of the federation and the coach made something explode in me,” explained the goalkeeper, who made no secret of the fact that he did not get along with coach Domenico Tedesco. “The coach made no effort to find a solution. He wanted to pressure me not to leave and threaten me. »
Courtois still wanted to apologize for having suddenly left his compatriots. “It was a bad decision to leave after the Austria match. I would like to apologize to the team and especially to the supporters. I think these two groups were the most shocked. I’m sorry and I apologize 100%. »