Belgium’s Courtois and Brazil’s Neymar are set to miss the Euros and Copa America.
Due to injuries, both Belgium and Brazil will be missing a crucial player in the upcoming international tournaments in 2024. Thibaut Courtois will not play for Belgium in the UEFA European Championship (Euro 2024), while Neymar will not play for Brazil in the Copa America.
Courtois tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in August and has yet to play for Real Madrid this season.
“Everything is going according to plan, even a little better than expected,” Courtois told Belgium’s Sporza on Tuesday. “Normally, I wouldn’t be able to walk for four months, but I’ve already been working on it for a week.” There have been no setbacks. Now is the time to be patient.”
“I will not be able to compete in the European Championships due to my injury.” First, I need to heal completely, and then it’s best not to set a date. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to play in May. “However, you can never be completely prepared for a major tournament,” he continued.
Injury, however, may not be the main reason for Courtois’ departure from the Belgian national team. After the 1-1 Euro 2024 qualifier against Austria in June, he departed the team’s training camp, revealing his disagreement with manager Domenico Tedesco. The two presented opposing explanations for what occurred.
“Leaving after the match against Austria was the wrong decision.” “I’d like to apologise to the team and especially to the fans,” Courtois stated in an interview. “My decision had a minor impact on me personally, but it had a significant impact on the group.” It caused turmoil in Estonia prior to the match.”
Courtois denied leaving the national team’s training camp due to leadership, but stated he didn’t feel respected there.
“Everyone at the club respects me here in Madrid.” “I don’t really feel that with [Belgium],” Courtois stated. “On the Saturday before the game, a few hours before kickoff, Tedesco announced that Romelu would captain against Austria and I would captain against Estonia.” Something inside of me cracked. I couldn’t take it any longer.”
“Tedesco told me seven different stories about why Romelu was captain.” “Every time it was different,” he continued, “the coach made no effort to find a solution but simply said he would tell the press everything.” He wanted to scare me and put pressure on me not to go. It was a private discussion. That is a betrayal of trust between the player and the coach.”
Belgium’s Courtois and Brazil’s Neymar are set to miss the Euros and Copa America.
From June 14 to July 14, 2024, Germany will host Euro 2024. Belgium is in Group E with Slovakia, Romania, and the winner of the playoff. In late March 2024, Israel, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine will compete for the berth.
When Neymar suffered a significant knee injury against Uruguay in a 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualification game in mid-October, the Brazilian national team’s doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, predicted a protracted rehabilitation. Lasmar stated on Tuesday that Neymer will not compete in the Copa America in 2024.
“It’s too early,” Lasmar told Rede 98 in Brazil. “There’s no point in rushing to recover and taking unnecessary risks.” We anticipate that he will be ready to return in August, at the start of the 2024 European season.”
“We must be patient. It is premature to discuss a return before nine months; this is a general idea for knee ligament surgery recovery. It is critical to respect biological time, or the time it takes the body to rebuild that ligament. If we follow those measures, and after a long rehabilitation, we expect him to be able to perform at a high level again,” the team director stated.
In 129 games for Brazil, Neymar scored an all-time high 79 goals. Copa America will be held in the United States from June 20 to July 14, 2024. Brazil is in Group D with Colombia, Paraguay, and the winner of the playoffs between Costa Rica and Honduras. In 2021, Brazil watched as their long-time rivals, Argentina, won the championship at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium.
