Bullish Garcia brushes off 'emotional' Doku comments
Jeremy Doku criticised Belgium's disappointing draw with Kazakhstan, but Rudi Garcia says his comments are already forgotten.
Rudi Garcia brushed off Jeremy Doku's "emotional" reaction to Belgium's draw with Kazakhstan, saying his side are united ahead of their clash with Liechtenstein.
Belgium went behind early on against Kazakhstan, but Hans Vanaken's second-half equaliser was enough to spare their blushes and keep them top of their group, two points clear of North Macedonia and Wales.
The draw did, however, see them miss out on the chance to seal the automatic World Cup spot with a game to spare.
Liechtenstein are bottom of the group with 0 points and have not scored a goal in qualifying, and with Belgium given a 96.8% chance of victory by the Opta supercomputer, a surprise looks unlikely.
After the match against Kazakhstan, Doku said that everyone had to do better, mentioning both the players and the coach, while also claiming the opponent had been misanalysed.
But Garcia, who will not be on the touchline on Tuesday as he serves a suspension, was not worried about comments made by the winger straight after a disappointing result.
"Oh, you know you have to be careful with emotional reactions in the disappointment that we didn't win," he said of Doku's comments.
"So what's important is that we all perform on the field. We will do that. Look, we are all concentrated, we all know what we are going to look for.
"The federation leaders, the players or the staff are all very motivated and quite serene to close it [qualification].
"It's [Doku being right] not so important. What counts is to be united. I repeat, it is not always easy to answer after the matches when there is frustration.
"Sometimes you miss a bit of clarity in the analysis. But come on, that doesn't count; it's over. What is needed is that after [Tuesday's] game, despite the fatigue that will be there after the game, we have a ticket for the USA in our pocket.
"Even if we say things that aren't particularly accurate, it won't be very important. We will have achieved our goal."
Garcia also faced questions about how Belgium can improve ahead of the World Cup, but he was keen to ignore any negativity surrounding the squad.
"Oh well, everyone does their job. I have some experience, so I know that criticism is part of the job," a frustrated Garcia said.
"But for the time being, there is no point in talking about that. We will take stock; I will do that with you and especially with regard to our supporters when we are qualified. The only thing I can say is that we all have an interest in going to the World Cup. Everyone wins.
"Those who criticise my players are not supporters of Belgium. That's all I can say. I always stand behind my players. I believe in them, so I have every confidence that we will qualify for the 2026 World Cup."
