St Petersburg: Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said his team’s defeat by France in the World Cup semifinals here, Tuesday was a ‘shame for football’, as he criticised Didier Deschamps’s side for a defensive style of play.
“It was a frustrating match. France didn’t play at all, they defended with 11 players within 40 metres of their goal,” Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois told Belgian TV channel ‘RTBF’.
“They played on the counter-attack with (Kylian) Mbappe, who is very quick. That’s their right. They know when an opponent play very deep, that’s where we have problems. The frustration is there because we didn’t lose to a team who are better than us, we lost to a team who play nothing, just defend.
“Against Uruguay (in the quarterfinals) they scored with a free-kick and a goalkeeping error. Today (Tuesday), a corner. It’s a shame for football that Belgium didn’t win today,” added the goalkeeper.
The frustration is there because we didn’t lose to a team who are better than us, we lost to a team who play nothing, just defend
Thibaut Courtois
Courtois was quick to point out that he would not be able to term France as the better team on the day. “A team who only defend, cannot be called better than us. No we did not lose to a better side, we lost to an unlucky set-piece move,” asserted the tall and lanky goalkeeper.
The Belgian shotstopper, however was pragmatic about the loss. “One side have to lose in every game, that’s the rule. It’s nice that it happened in normal time… losing in the tie-breaker would have been cruel,” Courtois said.
