Thibaut Courtois, Belgium’s goalkeeper, has told his national teammate and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne that age does not affect performance in football.
The top player for Manchester City recently asserted that several of Belgium’s players are currently past their prime during an interview in Qatar.
This came after the World’s No. 2 squad defeated Canada 1-0 in their opening match of the competition.
Belgium have come out en masse to deny a rift in the camp, after reports emerged of irreconcilable differences between certain players.
Jan Vertonghen, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois all spoke to the press on Tuesday to deny crisis talks in the team, saying there was a team meeting but about their issues on the pitch.
Real Madrid forward Hazard denied that there were any major issues.
“It wasn’t a big thing, everything that has been said has been exaggerated. We had a meeting yesterday and we talked about many issues.”
Marca covered his comments, as Belgium try to look forward to their final group game against Croatia, where they know they will likely have to win to go through.
After falling to Morocco 2-0 on Sunday, the Red Devils now face the very real chance of being eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage.
Speaking at a press conference from Belgium’s training camp on Tuesday, the Real Madrid goalkeeper said: “The words about the age of our defence? Luka Modric proves that age has no link with performance. Look at Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s the same.”
