Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne has insisted they had a good plan to beat France in their Euro 2024 round of 16 clash on Monday.
Jan Vertonghen’s late own goal meant the Red Devils crashed out of the competition, as they lost 1-0.
The Belgians defended resiliently against Les Bleus until the 85th minute, when Randal Kolo Muani’s shot took a deflection from Vertonghen and went in.
Manager Domenico Tedesco switched to a 4-4-2 formation for the game and De Bruyne has leapt to his defence.
Speaking to reporters after the game, De Bruyne said: “We had a plan, we executed it well. With the quality of France, we knew we wouldn’t have possession. We had moments to be dangerous. It’s a shame to concede the goal like that, but that’s football.
“A mistake in our game plan? When you give France a lot of space, it’s very difficult to defend Griezmann, Mbappe or Thuram one-on-one. That’s why we decided to drop back a bit. We didn’t concede many chances. It was a good plan until five minutes from the end.”