The Spanish Roberto Martínez, Belgium coach, assured this Friday that he is “very sad” for the elimination suffered against Italy in the quarterfinals of the Eurocup (1-2) and that their players did not deserve to lose.
“We are very sad; my players do not deserve elimination, they worked hard to advance. Unfortunately we played against a very strong team and the details did not favor us,” Martinez said at the post-match press conference in Munich.
“Italy was better in the first half, but in the resumption we pressed with everything to score the second goal. I am not disappointed by the attitude of the players, I am just very sad for my boys, who do not deserve to be eliminated. We were a bit unlucky, but we congratulate Italy, “he added.
Belgium fell 1-2 to Italy this Friday, with goals from Nicoló Barella and Lorenzo Insigne, and despite cutting distances from the hand of Romelu Lukaku, from a penalty, they could not avoid elimination.
Martinez insisted a lot on the merits of his boys and praised Kevin De Bruyne for the effort made to play this Friday, despite dragging ankle discomfort. On the other hand, Eden Hazard could not recover in time.
“It is a pity that Eden could not play. Kevin gave everything to play 90 minutes with the national team, I wanted to help and I think the fans should be proud. My players gave it their all. Then the small details determine the results in high-level football, “he said.
He did not want to talk about the future at this time, as the “wound is too recent.”
“It is too early to talk about the future now. The injury is too recent, I just want to think about our tournament. My players did not fail anything, they gave everything. Now we will do an analysis, we are sad,” he said.
Courtois: “We have been close”
The Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois He regretted Belgium's defeat against Italy by 1-2, although he pointed out that the tie was “close”.
“You can lose, it's football. It's a shame because we've been close”Said the Red Devils and Real Madrid goalkeeper in statements to the Belgian network RTBF.
Courtois said Belgium tried unsuccessfully “to find the pass between the lines” against “a team that plays well, that pushes up.”
“In the second half the coach (Roberto Martínez) told us to try to have possession and pass the first line of defense because it's where we could hurt. But we have not succeeded, a shame, “he lamented.
Regarding the two goals he conceded, the goalkeeper pointed out that “the second is a beautiful action (…), a beautiful goal”, referring to Lorenzo Insignie's crossed shot.