After Belgium’s World Cup exit in Qatar following a 0-0 draw with Croatia, coach ROBERTO Martinez announced his resignation.
After the tournament, the 49-year-old manager’s contract was set to expire. He had been in charge since 2016.
At his post-game press conference, Martinez stated, “That was my last game with the national team, I can’t continue.”I must now acknowledge that this is the last game.
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Martinez led Belgium to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 and a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, his aging team was unable to replicate that performance in Qatar, and they were eliminated after scoring just one goal in three games.
Martinez led Belgium to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2020 and a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, his aging team was unable to replicate that performance in Qatar, and they were eliminated after scoring just one goal in three games.
The Spaniard claimed that he had always intended to depart following the World Cup.
He stated, “That was the end, regardless of what would happen, whether we were world champions or went out in the group stage.”
Being eliminated from the group stage has nothing to do with it.
“Since 2018, I have had numerous opportunities to leave and take jobs at the club level, but I wanted to remain loyal.”It is the end of my contract, so I do not resign.
After defeating Morocco 2-0 and defeating Canada 1-0, Belgium needed to win their final group F match to guarantee their place in the last 16.
They were left to rue Romelu Lukaku’s series of missed opportunities in the dying minutes.
Martinez insisted, “Today, if we had gone through, I think we would have seen the real Belgium and we could have been very competitive in the next rounds.”
Morocco was the source of the disappointment.Today, we played as ourselves against a formidable opponent….We weren’t ourselves in the first two games.
