Belgium faced Italy in the quarter-finals of the Euro 2020. They were without Eden Hazard, who suffered another injury, but with the likes of De Bruyne and Lukaku in their squad, they were expected to give a tough fight.
However, Italy was the team that rightly deserved to go through to the semi-finals. Insigne was everywhere on the pitch, controlling the game for Italy, and they scored two goals inside the first half. Lukaku scored one goal from the spot-kick right before the first half ended.
Despite Belgium’s efforts in the second half Italy kept their lead intact. Belgium missed many chances which needed to be converted in big games like this. De Bruyne has now revealed that he was playing with torn ankle ligaments.
‘For me personally it has been four or five weird weeks,’ De Bruyne told UEFA after the game.
‘But I especially want to thank the medical staff. It was a miracle that I played today because there was definitely damage to my ankle. A tear in my ligaments.’
‘But I felt responsibility to play for my country today. Too bad I couldn’t do more.’
De Bruyne added: ‘I think we tried everything to win this match. They scored a fantastic goal, but the first one may have been a mistake on our part.’
‘They had more possession and the ball didn’t go in for us, which is a shame. Getting eliminated is always a disappointment.’
De Bruyne continued: ‘It was a difficult tournament for us, we suffered many injuries. We fought until the end. Italy were better than us in the first half, but in the second we created more chances. We could have got it to 2-2 but we didn’t.’
‘We lost against a top-notch team. We’ll try to win next time, at the World Cup, but first I have to recover physically. I’ve had too many (injury) problems in the last few years but I’ve always tried to give everything for the team.’
