Thibaut Courtois hits back at Belgium coach Tedesco over captaincy claim

19-Jun-2023 22:10:17 | The Guardian

Goalkeeper says he pulled out of Estonia qualifier with injury
Lukaku selected as captain on Saturday in De Bruyne’s absence

Thibaut Courtois has hit back at Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco and maintained he pulled out of the squad for Tuesday’s European Championship qualifier in Estonia due to a knee injury.

Earlier Tedesco insisted the Real Madrid goalkeeper had refused to travel for the match due to being “offended” at being overlooked for the captaincy against Austria on Saturday. Tedesco claimed Courtois told him after the Austria game that he was going home, and rejected rumours of a medical issue, telling a press conference: “I wish I could say it’s an injury, but I can’t lie.”