Kevin De Bruyne is 31 years old.

A young man.

But in professional football, the clocks tick a little differently, a little faster.

Speaking to The Guardian, De Bruyne said a few words about the Belgium national football team that caused an uproar.

Tobias Rabe

Responsible editor for Sport Online.

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Since 2014, the fans of the "Red Devils" have been hoping that the supposed "Golden Generation" will finally win the gold cup.

So De Bruyne was asked if he could win the title at the World Championships in Qatar.

But De Bruyne just said: "No way, we're too old."

There was a chance in 2018.

At that time, at the World Cup in Russia, the Belgians failed in the semi-finals against eventual world champions France.

Four and a half years later, the team is doing everything to confirm De Bruyne's thesis.

On that place.

And next to it.

A 1-0 win over Canada when Thibaut Courtois saved a penalty was followed by a 2-0 draw with Morocco.

This Thursday (4 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the soccer World Cup, on ARD and on MagentaTV), a win over Croatia will probably be enough to delay the early retirement of some national players.

Like the Germans in northern Qatar, the association has chosen a remote location on the border with Saudi Arabia.

There has been almost more debate than training in the past few days.

In a crisis meeting, according to goalkeeper Courtois, “everything came up on the table.

We weren't squeamish, but now it's all settled."

Forgive and forget?

Difficult to imagine.

Some players had attacked sharply – in public.

Attacker Eden Hazard, 31, described the defenders as "old and slow".

Defender Jan Vertonghen, 35, replied angrily: "We attack badly because our strikers are too old."

In addition to poverty in old age, a possible mole in the team is a hot topic.

Details of alleged altercations in the cabin have been denied.

"There was nothing," Courtois said.

"The real problem is the media and their made-up stories." The goalkeeper's defense makes one sit up and take notice, after all it was the players themselves who publicly criticized themselves.

Indirectly, Courtois admitted that there was actually an informant from the inner circle: "If we know who it was, it was his last day with us." De Bruyne, in turn, criticized coach Roberto Martinez's route: "I understand that Criticism of the tactics, but you can't change that as a player."

And the Croatians?

The loser of the 2018 World Cup final is not interested in the Belgian hustle and bustle, said coach Zlatko Dalić.

After a 0-0 draw against Morocco, there was a 4-1 win over Canada from behind.

Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramarić scored two goals.

But the key player is still Luka Modrić;

he "tears the whole team along," said Dalić.

Incidentally, Modrić is 37 – six years older than De Bruyne.