Kevin De Bruyne is having a tough time in the EUROS with Belgium.
Keven De Bruyne while he wears the Belgium away jersey and Kylian Mbappé licks his lips as he wears the France jersey. (Source: Kevin De Bruyne X, KM 10 Zone X)
Kevin De Bruyne and the Belgium national team found it difficult to advance to the knockout stages of the EUROS this summer as they played their final group stage match, which resulted in a 0-0 draw against Ukraine. De Bruyne has not shown the same level as how he plays at Manchester City, yet he has won two Man of the Match awards so far in this competition. Belgium finished second in Group E with four points. This positioning in the group has led to them facing Kylian Mbappé’s France in the Round of 16 on Monday. The performances in the group stages did not impress the Belgian fans in attendance, and De Bruyne felt frustrated with the reception. After the 0-0 draw against Ukraine, De Bruyne tried to applaud the fans, but with boos being very loud, he told the rest of the players from the national team to get off the pitch. It was a bad look from the captain of the Belgian national team, as the next game in the EUROS will be a huge challenge.
De Bruyne won the Man of the Match award after the game, as he created it. The most chances of the game with four. Belgium is now seen as the underdogs against France in the next round, but De Bruyne is satisfied to play in the knockout stages.
After the match, De Bruyne said, “We would have preferred to win this game, but so be it. Let me ask you this, what if we went all out to attack and we conceded a goal to go out, what will you [media] tell us then?”
Kevin De Bruyne on France
Belgium will have a difficult game against France in the Round of 16, and they are on the difficult side of the bracket as Spain and Germany are also on there. When asked about the challenge of playing France, De Bruyne said, “We are not favorites against France but we have to beat everyone to win the EUROS. We’ve already been on the right side of the picture and still been eliminated so it doesn’t mean much.”