Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he has held confrontation with his Belgian teammates after a controversial return to the national team.
Courtois, 32, was absent on the Belgian side for almost two years after a spit in June 2023 with previous coach Domenico Tedesco about the captain.
It meant that Courtois, which has 102 caps for Belgium, was sitting for last year's European championship, but since the dismissal of Tedesco and the appointment of Rudi Garcia as a new coach in January, the Real Madrid goalkeeper has had a change of heart.
The announcement of Friday Squadron, which marked the first for Garcia, saw Courtois again mentioned in the Red Devil team. The decision, however, criticized fellow keeper Koen Casteels.
Casteels remained furiously behind that Courtois will be allowed back in the Belgian fold after the former Chelsea stop did not promise never to play for them again.
Now, in a press conference prior to their qualifications of the World Cup, Courtois faced the media and lifted the lid on its integration into the team.
Thinking about the complaints of Casteel, Courtois said: 'I can understand Koen because he was number one and now I come back. But the football club wanted me back from the start, so I made myself available again.
'It's not as if I arranged all this myself. The other things he said there is more dissatisfaction? No idea. If you say something, you should call it, I think '.
Colleague Belgium Star – and Aston Villa – Midfielder – Youri Tielemans was also seated at Courtois and insisted that Castels did not have to drop a 'bomb' on the national side.
The Villa star said: 'We certainly did not need Koen's bomb in this situation. Of course it was discussed, but the most important thing is that Thibaut could clarify everything and tell his story.
“The most important thing is that he realizes that certain things have gone wrong for the group of players, but that he indicated that he did not mean it that way.”
Last week, during a performance on a Belgian podcast, Casteels regretted the football club of the country for recovering Courtois.
“It is strange that the football club has become 180 degrees and rolls out the red carpet and welcomes him with open arms,” he told Midmid.
'I find it a bit strange that Courtois can decide for himself whether he can come back. It is not so much in the direction of Thibaut, but mainly against the football club.
'That does not fit in the norms and values that I have about what a team sport or a sporting organization should have. From today I am no longer available [for the national team]. '
While Casteel was left frustrated by Courtois, the goalkeeper of Madrid bridges with his other national teammates in the form of a team meeting.
He also revealed in his press conference: 'I arrived as usual, we had a meeting with the coach. After dinner we had a conversation, that went well.
'There were many misunderstandings, half information, so now I could explain what was going on. The teammates could ask their questions, it was all said and done. '
In the meantime, the Dutch Outlet Nieuwsblad claimed that Garcia Courtois personally welcomed the Red Devil's Training as soon as he arrived.
The keeper and the coach then sat down with people like Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans to discuss his return to the national side.
New manager Garcia has identified the above trio as the 'leaders' of the current national side.
In the meantime, Courtois also admitted that he would like to make up for lost time with the fans, but revealed the fear that they could encourage him for his decision to walk away.
'Well, in the end I can't do much more than performing on the field. I am very sorry for the fans that it turned out, but it did not help that wrong or incomplete stories came true.
'In any case: you cannot just change public opinion. You just have to see that your performance. Hopefully I can restore the relationship in this way. Because it has always been good in itself. '
Earlier in the week, Garcia was questioned during a press conference about whether Courtois would be asked to apologize for his behavior,
Garcia said: 'We start with an empty slate. I will only see the players on Monday, but we will talk to the leaders again about what happened.
'But after that I will not stop to consider what happened years ago. Otherwise we will not make progress. '
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