Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans is currently with the Belgium squad, preparing for two UEFA Nations League matches against Ukraine in the coming days.
Rudi Garcia will take charge of his first fixture as De Rode Duivels manager on Thursday. He replaced Domenico Tedesco, and this saw Real Madrid star Thibaut Courtois return to the national team squad after a two-year exile.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper had a fall out with Tedesco and decided not to be part of the Belgium squad for close to two years. His last appearance for his country was against Austria in June 2023.
Courtois and the Aston Villa player spoke to the reporters to discuss the stopper’s return to the national team. Wednesday’s edition of De Standaard has relayed his comments.
The newspaper claims the former Leicester City man was representing the rest of the group as the Belgium players had opportunities to ask Courtois about his return.
Tielemans explained that he and other Belgium players are not holding a grudge against the ex-Chelsea goalkeeper.
“Thibaut explained to us why he didn’t want to play for the national team for two years. We accepted that explanation and now want to look ahead again,” he said.
Tielemans said the saga around Courtois’ absence has “caused more damage to the group than necessary”.
Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels publicly expressed his disappointment over Garcia’s decision to include Courtois in the squad. The 27-year-old Aston Villa star wasn’t pleased with this.
“What Koen said is a bombshell. We didn’t need that. Of course, there were stories in the group, and they were talked about. The most important thing is that Thibaut told his story from his point of view,” Tielemans explained.