sport news Belgium's World Cup row is worthy of an Agatha Christie novel trends now
A late call-up for Hercule Poirot may not go amiss as Belgium boss Roberto Martinez struggles to unravel the mysterious affair of the whispers in the sand.
Who said what about whom and why? Who is too old? Who is too slow? Who is sulking and who doesn’t care? What of the row? Who was to blame and how did it all come to leak out in the French press and sweep over the border into Belgium?
Will this turn murderous if the Red Devils are left to stew inside their luxury retreat 55 miles from Doha near the Saudi Arabia border? And can Thibaut Courtois truly focus on his Andrej Kramaric homework while organising the mole-hunt expedition?
Belgium's World Cup campaign has been in disarray amid talk of a rift between the squad
Roberto Martinez has called reports a dressing room bust-up 'fake news' in recent days
Martinez suspects sabotage and was yesterday railing against what he claimed was ‘fake news’, a story published in the usually-reliable French newspaper L’Equipe about a dressing room bust-up after Sunday’s defeat by Morocco, and against the Belgian media for the ‘own goal’ of picking up the story and amplifying it.
Goalkeeper Courtois had his say, blaming ‘too many lies’ on social media, and full back Timothy Castagne confessed the barrage of criticism of their performances in the opening World Cup games were proving a distraction ahead of today’s must-win Group F tie against Croatia.
‘That’s true, we let that criticism affect us to a certain extent,’ said Castagne. ‘Maybe we heard people saying we weren’t a golden generation and started asking questions and doubting ourselves.’
Confidence levels remain fine, though, according to the Leicester full back. ‘Not as low as people think, six or seven,’ he added, begging more questions about Castagne’s confidence index but there simply wasn’t time.
Toby Alderweireld (L) and Kevin De Bruyne got into a heated debate during Canada match
Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois insisted there are 'too many lies' to believe, on social media
There was Monday’s team- bonding barbecue to unpack, and the clear-the-air meeting designed to ensure everyone could air grievances.
Kevin De Bruyne lit the fuse on all of this with a public admission that the team was too old and had ‘no chance’ to win the World Cup, which followed what seemed to be a heated on-pitch argument between him and Toby Alderweireld during a scratchy 1-0 win against Canada.
It was
