After the fiasco of the 2022 World Cup and the ousting of coach Roberto Martinez, the Belgian federation is working to find a new coach, capable of leading the Red Devils to Euro 2024, the playoffs of which will begin in March.
If the names of Hervé Renard, Louis van Gaal or Vincent Kompany come up regularly in the Belgian press, it is Thierry Henry, Martinez's former assistant, who obtains the favors of Romelu Lukaku, the current number 9 of the selection.
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In an interview with Sky Sport Italia, the Inter Milan striker, in great difficulty in recent months, explained how the former center forward of the Blues appeared to be the ideal candidate.
“He has the respect of all the players, he has won everything.
He knows the job of coaching, he knows what we have to do to get there.
He knows the team, the league, the staff”, argues Lukaku who does not hesitate to project himself: “For me, Henry is the next coach of Belgium (…) I say it openly: he will be the next coach” , he assures.
"I don't think Belgium should start from scratch"
If he however specified "not knowing" to whom the choice of the federation will be, his is clearly stopped.
“I don't think Belgium should start from scratch.
So far this generation has not won, but we have to keep trying to win.
He wants to win, and I don't think the federation is going to take a coach who wants to change everything and start from scratch," he added.
One thing is certain: the future technician will have his work cut out to restore this Belgian selection, eliminated in the group stages of the 2022 World Cup. After a narrow success against Canada in the opening (1-0 ), Romelu Lukaku's teammates suffered the full force of Moroccan enthusiasm (0-2) before remaining desperately silent against Croatia (0-0).
In addition to the failure on the sporting level, quite deep dissensions appeared within the group and burst in broad daylight.
Jan Verthongen and Kevin de Bruyne notably responded with statements interposed in the mixed zone about the supposedly too high average age of the team.