Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said his side were outplayed in every aspect in a 2-0 defeat to Italy in their European Championship opener on Monday.
Despite facing the four-time World Cup champions, Belgium’s “golden generation” were favoured against Italy in Lyon, but goals from Emanuele Giaccherini and Graziano Pelle allowed Italy to take all three very crucial points to go on top of the ”Group of Death.”
Courtois made a number of fine saves in the losing effort, but he said Belgium need to do much better in the games coming up ahead.
“We were outclassed on all fronts,” said Courtois, as quoted by Sportwereld. “Tactically, technically and organisationally we came up short. “We made the same mistakes as in the friendly games. For the first we did not follow our man.”
Belgium next face Republic of Ireland on Saturday, followed by Sweden on the following Wednesday.
“This is a big disappointment, because the first match is very important,” Courtois said. ”The next two games are very crucial and we need to win at any cost in order to progress in the competition.”
Before the tournament began some pundits condemned this Italian team for a lack of quality, and even coach Antonio Conte said: “It isn’t a good time for our football.” The soon-to-be-Chelsea boss added: “It’s important the squad has a good spirit. I work a lot at this.”
Italy’s triumph was a result of superior organisation and discipline against 11 Belgian individuals. With 16 of 24 teams progressing from the group stage, Italy took a huge step towards advancing with victory against their likeliest challengers in the Group of death.
