Rudi Garcia dismissed Jeremy Doku’s emotional comments after Belgium’s draw, emphasizing team unity ahead of their match against Liechtenstein.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia has brushed off the “emotional” criticism levelled by winger Jeremy Doku following the team’s recent draw against Kazakhstan.
The result, secured by Hans Vanaken’s second-half equaliser after Belgium conceded early, meant the squad missed the opportunity to secure their automatic World Cup spot with a game to spare.
After the match, Doku publicly stated that “everyone had to do better,” referring to both the players and the coach, and claimed the opponent had been “misanalysed.”
Garcia, who will serve a touchline suspension for the upcoming match against Liechtenstein, minimized the weight of the winger’s frustration.
Addressing the comments, Garcia said: “Oh, you know you have to be careful with emotional reactions in the disappointment that we didn’t win.”
He stressed that the team’s focus must remain on the next task, not internal division. “So what’s important is that we all perform on the field. We will do that. Look, we are all concentrated, we all know what we are going to look for.”
According to a report from FotMob, Garcia emphasized unity and the importance of securing qualification in the next fixture. “It’s [Doku being right] not so important.
What counts is to be united. I repeat, it is not always easy to answer after the matches when there is frustration.”
He concluded by defending his players against critics: “Those who criticise my players are not supporters of Belgium.
That’s all I can say. I always stand behind my players. I believe in them, so I have every confidence that we will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.”
Belgium is favored to win against Liechtenstein, who are bottom of the group with 0 points and have not scored in qualifying, with the Opta supercomputer giving Belgium a 96.8% chance of victory.