ROME (Reuters) – Coach Domenico Tedesco is confident that Belgium’s new generation of young talent can step up to the plate in the absence of some big-name players.
Belgium will face Italy in Rome on Thursday in the Nations League without injured captain Kevin De Bruyne and striker Romelu Lukaku.
“We have some absent players … But we have many promising youngsters, a new generation, full of talent; we are happy,” Tedesco told a news conference on Wednesday.
While Italy top Group A2 with a maximum six points, Tedesco’s third-placed side are level on three points with France in second after they beat Israel 3-1 and lost 2-0 to the French in their opening two games. They will play France again on Monday.
With places up for grabs, Tedesco singled out Atalanta midfielder Charles De Ketelaere as deserving a spot in the side.
De Bruyne will miss the matches against Italy and France this month and has also asked for more time off from the national team. Lukaku asked to be excused from the two October games but could be back in November, Tedesco said.
De Bruyne launched an angry tirade against his teammates after they lost to France last month, which midfielder Youri Tielemans said was a call “to improve and wake up” the team.
“It was a message expressing his frustration and disappointment, not a negative message… the case is closed for us,” Tielemans said.
Italian-born German Tedesco said he had not come to Rome “as a tourist” and had been thinking of the game for weeks.
“I cannot hide my love, my passion for Italy; it is the first time I am against Italy tomorrow,” he said.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Toby Davis)
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