In the absence of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco has confidence his young players can take centre stage against Italy.
Belgium travel to the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday to face the Azzurri in their Nations League group A2 clash, hoping to bounce back from their 2-0 defeat to France last month.
But they will have to do so in the absence of two of their most creative players in Lukaku and De Bruyne.
Lukaku has made a fine start to life under Antonio Conte at Napoli, scoring three goals and laying on a further four assists in five Serie A outings so far.
The 31-year-old is also Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer, netting 85 goals in 119 appearances, but has not earned a recall to the squad after being dropped last month.
Manchester City’s De Bruyne asked to skip Belgium’s remaining Nations League fixtures for 2024 in order to manage his workload.
De Bruyne played both of Belgium’s games in the September international break, as they beat Israel 3-1 before losing to France in Lyon.
But Tedesco is confident that the Red Devils’ “new generation” can get results in their upcoming Nations League fixtures.
“We have some absent players … But we have many promising youngsters, a new generation, full of talent; we are happy,” Tedesco said.
Roma. #DEVILTIME pic.twitter.com/2CEZhRNxYe
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) October 9, 2024
Following Belgium’s defeat to France, De Bruyne made headlines by questioning the mentality and fighting spirit of Tedesco’s team.
However, the 33-year-old pledged his commitment to the national side until at least the 2026 World Cup.
Fellow midfielder Youri Tielemans agreed with De Bruyne’s frustrations, and said the incident was firmly behind them ahead of squaring off against Italy.
“It was a message expressing his frustration and disappointment, not a negative message… the case is closed for us,” Tielemans said.
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