Belgium’s Ex-Coach Martinez Haunted by World Cup Loss to Morocco

"It’s the match against Morocco that will haunt me for a long time. We weren’t ourselves. A bit like against Canada too. We weren’t in the right state to win those games," the former Belgium coach said in an interview with the Dutch media HLN, noting that it was different against Croatia. "We are probably the team that created the most chances against the Croats. You won’t find any tactical or technical expert who will be able to explain to you why we didn’t score in the last half hour. A matter of millimeters..." he continues.

According to the now jobless coach’s explanations, the Diables Rouges’ debacle at the 2022 World Cup is due to a lack of preparation. "In 2018, we had had three preparation matches. Not this time, he explains. Several countries used this group stage as preparation. It was the price to pay for a winter tournament." In 2018, he says he already felt at the airport that the team was ready, but this was not the case when the Diables Rouges arrived in Qatar. "Emotionally and tactically. Here, I only felt it two days before the match against Croatia. After the friendly match against Egypt, I felt that we were not ready. Nothing was working for us..."