February 9 – Succeeding Roberto Martinez, Belgium’s new coach Domenico Tedesco has promised he will not break with the past but simply select quality players.
The Spaniard, who led Belgium from 2016 and 2022, was criticised for not introducing the next generation in the starting XI of the national team, but Tedesco, unveiled as Red Devils coach on Wednesday, said merit and quality will prevail in his squad selection and not age. Eden Hazard’s team selection at the December World cup came under fire over his lacklustre performance.
“I said that for me there is no young and old, only players with the right quality,’ said Tedesco (pictured) at a news conference. ‘Moreover, we don’t have that much time to experiment… The average age of our team can be 24, but also 31.”
The German will debut with Belgium away to Sweden in the Euro 2024 qualifiers before a friendly with Germany in Cologne. Belgium’s last two major finals turned into disappointments with a quarter-final exit at Euro 2020 followed by a first-round exit at the last World Cup.
Tedesco’s arrival will also mean changes to the backroom staff. Thierry Henry will depart as assistant coach, but the Belgian FA is keen on keeping Thomas Vermaelen, who also featured as an assistant in the latter years of the Roberto Martinez era, on board, but discussions are ongoing and his future role remains unclear. Henry arrived in Belgium in 2016 before unsuccessful spells at Montreal and AS Monaco, and then returning to Brussels.
“We have spoken with Thierry, because we appreciate his opinion and he is concerned about the future of the national team. But he will no longer play a role in the staff,” said KBVB CEO Peter Bossaert. “We appreciate the work he has done.”
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