EM EM 2024
Belgians angry at police escort – “Never seen anything like it”
Status: 00:18 | Reading time: 2 minutes
By Laura Wolf
Editor News & Society
Draw against Belgium’s minimalists – Ukraine’s dramatic European Championship exit in video
Ukraine fought for a draw against Belgium, but failed dramatically in the group phase with four points, while Belgium could breathe a sigh of relief. Casteels’ saves secured the draw for the Red Devils. The highlights in the video.
The Belgians are angry: Something went wrong on the journey from Ludwigsburg to Stuttgart. The team needed more than an hour to get there. According to the players and coach, the police escort was to blame.
That wasn’t a particularly good day for the Belgians. They advanced to the round of 16 as group runners-up, but were booed by the fans for their performance. Coach Domenico Tedesco took the fans’ criticism in his stride. What really annoyed him, however, were the circumstances of the apparently arduous journey.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “We were escorted here by the police without flashing blue lights, the streets were completely clear, they drove at 20 or 25 km/h and stopped at every traffic light. It took us over an hour to get from the team hotel. Before such an important game, unbelievable.”
The Belgians arrived at the Stuttgart Arena just an hour before the start of the game, explained the coach. The 38-year-old Tedesco was born in Italy but grew up in the Esslingen district. He is from the region and therefore knows the route from the Belgium quarters in Ludwigsburg to the Stuttgart stadium, for which such a long journey time is not usual.
“A huge mistake by the organizers”
Old defender Jan Vertonghen agreed with the coach’s criticism: “A huge mistake by the organizers. The police drove behind the bus. I don’t understand that. This is not the first time. We had two minutes to change.” Defender Wout Faes also said that this was “not good preparation.” But he did not want to use it as an excuse.
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The Belgians, who were considered clear favorites in the match, played a lackluster game. In the final phase in particular, the fans had to worry about their place in the round of 16; Casteels cleared a corner kick that was aimed directly at goal on the line. The Ukrainians continued to press for the goal they desperately needed, but also missed the best scoring opportunities. In the round of 16, the Belgians now have to face France.
