Thibaut Courtois has sensationally accused Belgium’s manager of threatening to leak their conversations to the press.
Courtois was at the centre of a media storm back home in June when he left the international set-up uninjured between Euro 2024 qualifiers against Austria and Estonia.
It was reported at the time that his dissatisfaction came from Kevin De Bruyne being given the nation’s captaincy over him, something which Courtois has now clarified.
"Well, first I'd like to apologise for that,” he said. “It was a wrong decision to leave after the match against Austria.
“I would like to apologise to the team and especially the supporters. I think those two groups were the most shocked. So therefore: 100 per cent my apologies and sorry.
"Look, if my departure was purely about the captaincy, I would have already resigned in March [when Tedesco chose De Bruyne as captain].
“Kevin as captain? No problem. But then you had Romelu [Lukaku] and I as vice-captains without hierarchy."
The match against Austria was set to be Courtois’ 102nd, and first at home since becoming a centurion, so he was expecting a delayed tribute and the armband, neither of which were forthcoming.
Explaining the fallout from that decision, the former Chelsea keeper continued:
"When he said that Romelu was captain against Austria and I was captain against Estonia on Tuesday, something snapped inside me.”
“I couldn’t handle it anymore. The fact that I no longer felt appreciation from the federation and trainer made something explode within me."
"The coach made no effort to find a solution, but simply said he would tell the press everything. He wanted to pressure me not to leave and threaten me.
“That is simply not possible, because it was a private conversation. Then there is a breach of trust between the player and the coach.
"Tedesco wanted to launch an attack on me, one he announced the day before. Go ahead, I thought - something like that doesn't help and creates a breach of trust. Moreover, things were leaked to the press the next day, which I know came from his side."
Courtois goes on to say more about his opinion on Tedesco, saying that he gave the goalkeeper seven different versions of the story as to why Lukaku had been made captain over him. Furthermore, Courtois revealed that ‘To save the situation, I talked to Vercauteren until half past four that night in Tubize. About the national team, the things at my club, the system, everything. But Tedesco left after 15 to 20 minutes – he had enough of talking to me‘
Asked if he will play for his national team again, the 31-year-old said:
"The door is definitely not closed for me.
“However, I know that I have to keep the focus on Real Madrid this season. And the European Championship does not figure in the plans for a perfect return.
“We'll see. Ultimately, nothing lasts forever in football. For me, it's no problem to sort things out like two adults. But where is the middle ground after a breach of trust like this?"
