Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne warns Belgium might be top of the FIFA World Rankings, but they cannot compete with Italy, France and Spain.
The Red Devils had a 2-0 lead against France in the Nations League semi-final, eventually losing 3-2 in stoppages, and were beaten 2-1 by Italy today in the final for third place.
It is the first time since 2016 that Belgium have lost two consecutive matches.
“We did well at times against some top teams and had many new faces who did more than a decent job today,” De Bruyne told HNL.
“It’s good experience for them to be able to play against opponents of this calibre, but unfortunately we lost twice. With all due respect, playing against Estonia is not the same thing and these challenges are necessary for us to grow, both as individuals and as a team.”
Belgium have been top of the FIFA World Rankings for some time, but Manchester City star De Bruyne casts doubt on the calculations.
“With all due respect, we are ‘just’ Belgium. It’s a new generation, we were missing Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard today, so we have to be realistic about the team we have.
“Italy, France and Spain have 22 top players to choose from and we do not.”
These De Bruyne’s comment has prompt Plenty of Sky Blues to react on social media.
He is spot on. This Begian side is not a golden generation. Take out Lukaku and De Bruyne and they become average.
— Meedy Yocker (@Medicocre) October 10, 2021
Belgium has only one top player, and that is De Bruyne. 🐐
— The biggest fan of Manchester City (@negredo09) October 10, 2021
Feel so bad for Kevin man. In Belgium, Fatty always let him down & in City, baldy always let him down.
— Aniket (@thecityzen06) October 10, 2021
I feel sad for him man
— Ash (@dhonifan27) October 10, 2021
It’s not ‘just’ Belgium, it’s just Roberto Martinez
— Kushagra (@Kushagra9320) October 10, 2021
with that defense they aint winning anything
— sdobrevv2 (@SDobrevv2) October 10, 2021
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