Was this failure foreseeable? For Het Laatste Nieuws, the Catalan returned bluntly to this last competition. “I already knew against Egypt that we were not ready”he explained. “Nothing was falling into place. We weren’t balanced in the game. And psychologically, we weren’t there either.”
To explain the failure at the World Cup, the Spaniard assures us that the preparation was very special. “In 2018 we had three friendlies to prepare for the World Cup. We didn’t have that luxury here. Many countries used group matches as preparation. It was the same for, say, the Germany or Denmark. It was just the price to pay for a tournament in winter.”
According to him, Belgium needed these meetings to be ready to enter this competition. “In 2018, when boarding at the airport, I felt the team was ready. Both emotionally and tactically. Now I had that feeling just two days before the game against Croatia.”
During the competition, some tensions arose between some executives. The newspaper L’Equipe even assured that an altercation had taken place between players after the lost match against Morocco. Information that he firmly denies. However, he admits it played a part. “The group was supposedly too old or too slow. Players weren’t making minutes at their clubs… The focus was on negativity. And even ‘fake news’ got attention. “ He assures all the same that it made his group “stronger”.
For many, Roberto Martinez had not prepared the generational transition well. Allegations with which he disagrees. “After Russia, we expanded the core“, he continues. “Now we have several options at each position. This was not the case when I arrived. All the decisions I made were the right ones.”
Roberto Martinez also wanted to thank everyone. He also defended his record. “Qatar was a disappointment. We were number one in the world for years, I allowed 25 new faces to debut and integrate, many players developed, ….. We have almost eight players with 100 caps. When I analyze the past years, I can sleep easy.”