From our Special Envoy in Doha,
Problem of sports philosophy.
Can we decently come across an attacker on the pretext that he squandered 36 chances three meters from goal, when he is the only one to have been able to get them?
You have three hours.
Romelu Lukaku was seen in tears in the arms of Thierry Henry after the draw against Croatia (0-0) which sent the Belgians home.
He knows he is partly responsible for the disaster, at least on this third match, where he harvested as not allowed.
Special mention for this ball stuck to the body when it was only necessary to push it to score, or to this mine that came to brutalize the Croatian post.
Nobody in the Belgian locker room, however, dared to fall on the (non) scorer, Jérémy Doku the first.
“He had chances but it's not just him, it's everyone, we all tried to put ourselves in the best positions to score.
Yes, he missed chances but I don't think it was his fault.
Timothy Castagne thinks no less.
“If it's not Romelu, maybe we don't create these chances.
He gave his all too.
When it doesn't want to come in… He has already made matches where he scores three more complicated than the ones he had tonight.
»
Roberto Martinez leaves the Red Devils
The indulgence here is a form of reward for services rendered, which Roberto Martinez was also able to enjoy despite the debacle.
Certainly, the early elimination in the World Cup puts an end to his story with the Red Devils, but who can be quite ungrateful towards a man who accompanied this generation to the podium of the 2018 World Cup?
The announcement of the Spaniard's departure moved the locker room, according to Michy Basthuayi.
“We are surprised [by the departure of Martinez].
He told us that while crying.
There are many players who cried.
»
"Everything I have been able to do with the national team makes me very proud," said the coach.
It's a team that has given a lot of people a lot of happiness and the real fans in Belgium appreciate it.
Both for his results, his eternal first place in the FIFA rankings and for the game offered by Martinez's men.
It is also interesting to note that the decline of this golden generation coincides with a background of play that appeared rough during the group stage in Qatar.
Should we attribute this loss of collective cohesion to the internal tensions revealed in recent days by the Belgian media?
That will be for history to judge.
Kevin De Bruyne, panic on board
More than the dramas, the failures of Lukaku and the lack of impact of Hazard, from which we no longer expect much, the poor form of Kevin de Bruyne weighed a lot in the failure.
The leader of Manchester City, as frightened, made approximations that we did not know him in midfield.
He was seen swinging long balls to get rid of the hot potato instead of calmly orienting.
The contrast with the metronome Luka Modric is even less flattering.
Martinez had already deplored this paralyzing "fear of losing" among his players, already mentioned by his Argentinian counterpart Scaloni before seeing the Albiceleste reassure themselves against Poland.
At the Red Devils, everyone agrees that this click victory was not so far away.
Castagne: “It's not like the first two games where we thought we could do better.
We gave everything, we tried, it doesn't pay off.
We know we should have done better.
It's a shame to go out on this.
“I believe we would have progressed and from 1/8 you could have seen the real Belgian team,” speculates Martinez.
To see it, Romelu Lukaku would have had to score.
A goal.
Just one.
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