THIS is the sensational moment Kevin De Bruyne says “I QUIT” – plunging his Belgium future into doubt.
Etihad ace De Bruyne, 33, slammed the tactical approach under coach Domenico Tedesco in a TV interview.
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That came after he was spotted by the cameras in a heated post-match discussion with former Red Devils winger Frank Vercauteren, who is set to leave his role as the national team’s sporting director.
De Bruyne ended that conversation by stepping away from Vercauteren and towards France striker Kylian Mbappe saying “I quit, I quit.”
And when de Bruyne declined to expand on his frustrationsin the post-match mixed zone, it fuelled fears that he may be ready to turn his back on Tedesco’s side – just a week after insisting he wanted to keep going until the 2026 World Cup.
Belgium, who beat Israel 3-1 in their Nations League opener, were second best throughout the 2-0 defeat in Lyon.
In his TV snapshot verdict, the Manchester City superstar did not hold back.
He said: “There is not much to say. I cannot say what went wrong.
“I already said that to the team at half-time and I cannot repeat that in the media. I did that when I was 18 at RC Genk, but today I am 33. You will find out for yourself.”
Quizzed further by former Belgium striker turned TV reporter Gilles de Bilde, who suggested the team’s initial high press had been effective, De Bruyne added: “Gilles, you have also played football, but you are not asking the right tactical questions.
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“It is not about transition, but about people who do not perform their tasks.
“We simply have too many at the back. If you stay with six at the back, there is no connection. Then that is how it is. It is what it is.
“I can’t say what, but some things are just unacceptable.
“I was the first to see that we are not as good as in 2018.
“But if our standard is the top and we are not good enough to reach that level, then you have to at least give everything. If some people don’t even do that, then it’s over.”
De Bruyne’s brutal comments clearly touched a nerve with his team-mates also declining to speak post-match, although Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana said the skipper had shouted at half-time: “Level up”.
Tedesco suggested De Bruyne had reacted “emotionally”.
He said: “Kevin is our captain and has a huge winning mentality, so he can also react emotionally.
“You can’t say after a match that he wants to stop playing for us. Kevin is a winner. He is very emotional. It is normal that we are disappointed now, but we have to let the emotions cool down.”
De Bruyne was in a much happier mood the next day when he and his wife Michele Lacroix attended the Ronald McDonald House in Jette to mark the fifth anniversary of the children’s fund.
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