“Just a game about money”, “They only care about their pockets”, “When should we rest?” Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois went on a major rant after the Nations League third-place match.
On Sunday, the Nations League determined its second winner. France beat Spain 2-1 in a thrilling final, but interest in the competition was limited. Just 3.25 million people watched the match on ARD, a very modest rating.
They also saw that France’s players were not exactly in their arms with tears of joy when the final whistle blew. Rather, there was a cool high-five among themselves. The fact that the finals had to be postponed for four months due to corona and thus took place almost a year after the end of the group phase certainly did not contribute to the attractiveness of the latest edition.
There was much debate about the sense and nonsense of the Nations League when it was introduced in 2018. Still better than friendly matches, said some. Others moaned above all about the extra workload.
It is all the more puzzling that UEFA decided on a third-place match. Why choose a third-place winner in this competition? In football, apart from World Cups or the Club World Cup, this is rather unusual, unless medals are at stake, as in the Olympic Games.
“They only care about their pockets, about the money. “
THIBUILDS COURTOIS TOWARDS UEFA AND FIFA
For Thibaut Courtois, the solution is simple. “This third and fourth place game is just a money game and we have to be honest about that. We only play it because it means extra money for UEFA.” Accordingly, he said, the coaches had also set up. “If both teams had been in the final, other players would have played in the final. It just shows that we played too many games,” he said on “Sky”.
Once on a roll, Courtois lashed out. “UEFA has created an extra trophy, the Conference League. It’s always the same. You can complain that other teams want a Super League, but they don’t care about the players. They only care about their pockets, about the money. “
FIFA also gets its money’s worth – injuries inevitable
For Courtois, the players’ health is at the heart of the matter. “It’s a bad thing not to talk about the players. And now you hear that every year there is either a European Championship or a World Cup. When do we rest? Never. We are not robots! There are always more games and less rest for us and nobody takes care of us,” said the 29-year-old, who thus also included FIFA in his criticism.
Where this is leading is foreseeable, according to Courtois. “In the end, the best players will be injured and injured and injured. Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play again until the end of June. We will get injured!” Three weeks off is not enough to play at the highest level for 12 months, he said. “If we never say anything, it will always be the same,” Courtois concluded.
Incidentally, Belgium lost the match for third place 2-1, but that should not have mattered much to Courtois.
