There were feelings of sadness for the Belgium national team, on Monday, after it presented a disappointing performance again, as it had many opportunities but failed to exploit them to exit the 2024 European Championship in the round of 16, after a 0-1 defeat against France.
Technical director Domenico Tedesco seemed very sad about the result, to the point that he answered most of the journalists’ questions after the match by “shrugging his shoulders,” and said that it was too early to analyze the performance.
However, he expressed his astonishment at Belgium's failure to score 3 times in 4 matches played in Germany, and mentioned two players by name.
He said: “It is unfortunate for me that (striker) Romelu (Lukaku) returned home without scoring. Likewise, (winger) Jeremy Doku did not score or provide assists. It is unbelievable. The two did a good job and deserved more.”
He added: "It is really difficult for me to provide an analysis of my team's performance an hour after the final whistle blew, and after conceding a goal in the 85th minute. We will see what happens in a few weeks."
Goalkeeper Quinn Casteels, who watched Randall Kolo Mwani's shot deflect into his own net as France won, said the players were sad.
He added: "It was a very mediocre tournament for us. I think the locker room will be silent because of the disappointment."
What highlights Belgium's offensive problems is the dangerous opportunity that captain Kevin De Bruyne had, who is usually effective with Manchester City, but he shot it directly at the French goalkeeper.
He said: "We gave everything to try to achieve victory. We were 5 minutes away from going into extra time. We had chances, which were not many. France scored after that, but there was not enough time to try to recover the result."
De Bruyne added: "We were defending very well, but the goal came from a shot that was diverted. It's bad, but it's football. I had that opportunity near the end, but I couldn't score. The goalkeeper did a good job. We did everything we could to do it."
Despite the disappointment, the Belgian fans bid farewell to their team after the defeat better than they did after their last match in the group stage, when they booed after the goalless draw with Ukraine.
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