Belgian goalkeeper Koen Casteels announced on Sunday that he is “no longer available” for international duties before he is expected to return to the national team.
The 32-year-old was Belgium’s goalkeeper in the 2024 European Cup after Coutois left the national team after the consequences with former coach Domenico Tedesco. But since Rudi Garcia was appointed coach in January, Coutois said he wanted to return to international scope.
“Even if Matz Sels and Koen Casteels have quality goals, we are counting on Thibaut, who I think is the best goalkeeper in the world,” Garcia said at his arrival.
Nevertheless, the caste, who now plays for Saudi club Al Qadsiah, revealed in the Playports podcast that he will no longer be available for the national team. “I found Thibaut Courtois could decide for themselves whether or not they could come back. I found it was very strange that the Federation should flip and roll out the red carpet in this way. There were a lot of players like me,” Casteels said.
Since its debut in 2020, caste has won 20 blocks for Belgium. Frustrated with his appointment as captain for not being a match against Austria in June 2023, Kottova retired from international duties.
According to Belgian media Sudinfo, not all players favor Courtois’ return, which could create tensions as Garcia prepares to announce his first team later this month in the Belgian National League on Friday, March 15.
