Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois accused France of playing “anti-football” during his side’s FIFA World Cup 2018 semi-final loss on Tuesday.
Samuel Umtiti’s 51st-minute header saw France win 1-0 in St Petersburg, booking a spot in Sunday’s final for Didier Deschamps’ men.
READ | Paul Pogba dedicates France’s FIFA World Cup 2018 final entry to Thai cave survivors
Belgium struggled to create many chances after a bright start as they were left frustrated by a compact France outfit.
[embedded content]
Courtois blasted Les Bleus – who moved into a third World Cup final – for their tactics. “It’s just an anti-football team,” Courtois told Sporza. “Their striker plays 30 metres from his own goal.”
READ | FIFA World Cup: Umtiti helps France edge past Belgium to enter third final
Belgium booked their spot in the semi-final by upsetting favourites Brazil in the last eight. But Courtois said he would have preferred to lose to Tite’s men, praising their approach.
“France heads a corner and does nothing more than defend,” he said. “I would have preferred to have lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil, at least that was a team that wanted to play football.”
No final it is
That’s #Football. We did our best.
The support in & all over the world was once again amazing !
Félicitations @equipedefrance et bonne chance pour la finale !
We go for now !
@Fanclub1895 #REDTOGETHER#WorldCup#FRABEL pic.twitter.com/OnLhIg0zoP
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) July 10, 2018
Source: HindustanTimes