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Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois last played for his nation two years ago before a public falling out with then coach Domenico Tedesco.
Thibaut Courtois congratulates Belgium’s forward #10 Romelu Lukaku for scoring the opening goal (Picture credit: AFP)
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois tasted defeat on his return to Belgium on Thursday, as the Red Devils lost 3-1 to Ukraine in the first leg of the Nations League play-off.
Real Madrid’s Courtois last played for his country in 2023 before a public falling out with then coach Domenico Tedesco and looked set to finish on 102 caps.
Courtois, 32, has come back into the fold under a new boss in Frenchman Rudi Garcia but was unable to stop Ukraine claiming the upper hand before next Sunday’s second leg in Genk.
Romelu Lukaku scored for Belgium before efforts from Oleksiy Gutsulyak, Vladyslav Vanat and Ilya Zabarnyi in 12 minutes after the break secured the win for Sergiy Rebrov’s side.
“The second half they took control,” Lukaku told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
“We had more desire but we were too wasteful for the third goal, our confidence dropped.
He added: “We can change the situation next week. I think you can see the team hasn’t recovered (from Tedesco’s tenure). The team have to be tough mentally.”
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the opening game of the tie was played in the Spanish city of Murcia.
Many of the Belgium side which topped the world rankings from 2018 until 2021 have retired, including former skipper Eden Hazard.
Another member of that golden generation striker Lukaku opened the scoring in south-eastern Spain after 40 minutes.
Courtois then conceded three goals by the 78th-minute leaving Belgium on the edge of relegation to the second-tier League B of the Nations League.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)