Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois refused to back coach Marc Wilmots after Belgium crashed out of Euro 2016 on Friday night.
The Belgians suffered a 3-1 defeat to Wales in Lille, and will now be forced to reflect on another disappointing tournament following on from the 2014 World Cup.
Wilmots will now naturally come under pressure for failing to meet expectations given the quality that he had in his squad, and he didn’t receive any great reassurances from Courtois in terms of wishes for him to stay on in his current position.
“This was an opportunity we may not get again,” he told reporters after the game. “I gave him my opinion in the dressing room. He has to make his own decision.
“I pointed the finger where it had to be put after the game. We have to remain intelligent. We’re young and we’re going to still spend a lot of time together. But it’s a disappointment because we had a golden chance to go to the final.
“It’s the biggest disappointment of my career and I’ve played in the final of the Champions League. We started the game well, we created two or three chances and we got the goal. But afterwards we fell back into our half, we left too much space and we couldn’t hit back.
“Wales had more chances than us and were more dangerous. They controlled the match and we felt like we couldn’t create any chances.”
On one hand, Courtois is right to be disappointed, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the defeat when emotions are still running high.
However, it isn’t going to reflect well on the 24-year-old in some ways, as few will be left impressed with his decision to go public with his thoughts at a time when Wilmots is already under significant pressure.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Belgian FA opt to make a change in the coming weeks, but Courtois is seemingly ready for one.