Special Envoy of the Observer in Doha, Qatar
“Victory is a state of mind.” It cannot be said that Belgium does not have its trait off the pitch. Even before the World Cup, the promotion that the team did with Filipe, in a film that began with the visit of coach Roberto Martínez to the royal palace and ended with the King giving instructions to De Bruyne and company in training, was one of the moments with more participations in the prelude to the competition. Now, in the decisive match of the qualification for the round of 16 against Croatia, the Federation went to get hold of the famous photograph of Ronaldo and Messi playing a game of chess to put the Manchester City midfielder and Romelu Lukaku in the same positions as if you were thinking of the best way to win. It was understood, of course. The margin of error was nil.
The victory at the start against Canada hid the shortcomings of the team, exposed by Morocco in a game where the Red Devils were controlled as it had not been the case for a long time. And the tension in the dressing room became more latent, with Kevin de Bruyne setting the tone in an interview with The Guardian saying that the team was “too old to go far”, Vertonghen saying that “if the team attacked badly, it could be old”, Martínez admitting problems in the group “normal in a family” and L’Équipe writing that some players almost came to blows, in news that made the coach explode in conference.
“Nothing is happening in the locker room, only the coach has spoken. We talk about everything but of course I’m not going to fight Vertonghen, he’s bigger than me! The players know me all. Vertonghen asked me if I said that about him. [rumores relacionados aos jogadores terem chamado “velhos” uns aos outros]???????? I laughed and told him that he is not so fast anymore. He accepted. My teammates know me, I like to laugh,” Hazard said. “Everyone likes to follow fake news that arise in bodies that are not even Belgian. It is a lesson for us: we are alone, alone, fighting for what we believe in and I only hope that the true fans can be with the team”, Martínez stressed.
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Source: Observadora
