belgium Coach Roberto Martinez confirmed on Thursday he would step down from his role following his team’s early exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Belgium were knocked out at the group stage after a 0–0 draw. CroatiaFinished third behind Croatian and group winners Morocco, A win in their final group match would have been enough to send Belgium through to the last 16.
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“My position is very clear. This is the end for me,” Martínez told a news conference.
“Whatever the outcome of this tournament, I took the decision before the World Cup. It’s all long term. From 2018 onwards, I could have taken many jobs. I don’t resign, it’s just ending like this.”
Belgium missed several chances to score against Croatia which would have taken them through to the knockout stages. The 0–0 draw summed up a disappointing campaign in which he scored only once in three matches and made headlines more for reports of off-field squabbles than for his football on the pitch.
Martinez took charge of Belgium in 2016 from Marc Wilmots. The Spaniard – former coach of evertonWigan Athletic and Swansea City – guided the so-called “golden generation” of Belgian talent to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup and a quarter-final exit from Euro 2020.
Belgium reached the No. 2 spot in the FIFA rankings in the 2022 World Cup.
Lawrence: Belgium’s golden generation lives without a trophy
The Royal Belgian FA (RBFA) said, “We are extremely disappointed following the early exit of our national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as we have failed and thus disappointed the Belgian people who supported our team.” did.” said in a statement.
“We thank Roberto Martínez for everything he has achieved with this Golden Generation, as a coach as well as a technical director: number one in the FIFA-rankings for four consecutive years, the bronze medal at the 2018 World Cup , qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2021, the 2021 UEFA Nations League Final Four and the 2022 World Cup,” said CEO Peter Bossert.
“Along with his team, Roberto has left a huge legacy for the next generations of Belgian footballers.
“Not only by introducing a modern structure on analysis, education and scouting, but also by starting the preparation for the next step in the careers of players aiming to become coaches. But also their contribution to the brand-new and state-expanded Tobies-off The state-of-the-art football center was huge.
“Last but not least we thank him for the familiar atmosphere he brought to our home and for being a great ambassador for Belgian football. He will be greatly missed by the entire RBFA staff. We wish Roberto Martinez all the best for the future Huh.” ,
ahead mitchie batsuyi said that Martínez was emotional when informing the Belgian team that he would not be continuing.
“We are surprised by his decision,” Batsui said. “He told us crying. It’s also the end for some of the players, many of them cried in the dressing room after the game.”
Martínez acknowledged it could also be the end of some of the team’s ‘golden generation’, but believes he will leave the team with a new band of young players to take them forward.
“Players like [Youri] tielemann, [Amadou] Onana, [Jeremy] doku … The Golden Generation has achieved something that should excite generations to come. That legacy lives on, and he must continue to set the high standard.”
This report used information from ESPN’s Julian Lawrence and Reuters.
