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Your support makes all the difference.Personal pride is at stake for Belgium’s Premier League players when they clash with England in their final group game this Thursday, Thibaut Courtois has revealed, who dismissed all talk of permutations and tiebreakers.
The Red Devils and the Three Lions meet in Kaliningrad with the calm assurance that both have already sealed qualification, but who wins the group and who comes second is yet to be decided.
There remains the possibility that a defeat might be the best result for both sides should Germany only qualify as a second-placed team from their group, but the Belgians have insisted that won’t affect their approach and especially not those players based on British soil, who want a win for the age-old reason of bragging rights.
“For me there is [pride at stake],” said Courtois, the Chelsea goalkeeper. “I don’t want to go back to England in July with a losing feeling. I want to win. I think everyone feels that way.
“It will be different because it doesn’t matter if we win or lose because we are through so in that way, it’s less nerves maybe going into the game for everyone. But I would say it’s prestige, everybody wants to win. They have a lot guys we know and we have a lot of guys they know.
“People say it will depend on who we play in the next round but in that group there are four teams that are really tough so I don’t think it matters if you finish second or first. But if you want to have that winning feeling, it’s best to keep on winning.
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