Roberto Martinez after six long years of coaching Belgium's golden generation finally closes the chapter with another failure in the big stage as they were ousted from the group stage after a goalless draw at Ahmed bin Ali stadium in Doha last Wednesday.
Contrary to all expectations, North African side Morocco topped Group F, and progressed to the Round-16 stage along with Croatia.
The Spaniard though made Belgium a significant superpower with some consistent performance throughout, resulting in No. 1 Fifa ranking for four years in his tenure, and he led them to their best-ever World Cup result – 3rd in the 2018 Russia World Cup.
But it was never enough to save the blushes for the star-studded side consisting of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and many more top footballers who played two World Cups and a Euro Championship under the management of Martinez.
The squad was hit by multiple injuries at the start of this campaign in Qatar as star striker Lukaku was carrying an injury, while their best player in the last World Cup, Hazard, was also hampered by fitness issues.
Still, there should be no excuses for their dismal show in the tournament where they were outplayed but won against Canada in the opener, before conceding a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Morocco.
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The Red Devils still would have qualified for the knockout phase if their players, notably Lukaku, had utilized some of the missed chances against Croatia.
The squad clearly lack confidence and rumors surrounding the groupings in the dressing room, which the players and coaches brushed under the carpet as “invented stories” and “fake news” before the last group stage game are now getting some points of validity.
Allegation of not giving chances to young bloods like the exciting 20-year old Jeremy Doku was also a concerning issue for Martinez and his management, and now with their top superstars ageing past 30, Belgium need to take a good look at their pipeline.
Also, Martinez didn't have significant prior experience in managing top clubs in Europe, neither handled so many top players in a single squad.
With the departure of Martinez, who also performed the responsibility of Belgium Football Federation's technical director since 2020, time will be needed to get Belgium's response to this disastrous situation.