Casteels removes Courtois’ shadow

There is nothing to talk about Thibaut Courtois in Belgium. Before the first match of the Euro Cup, the concentration burden of the men led by Domenico Tedesco. But above all for his replacement, Koen Casteels, that game after game, minute after minute, managed to silence the Real Madrid goalkeeper, finally truly nothing without his spirit destroying the concentration of the ‘Red Devils’.

Casteels He is one of the best goalkeepers in the Euro Cup. Compete for that honor with many names. They are there Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia), Mike Maignan (France), Unai Simon (Spain), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Jan Oblak (Slovenia) or Jordan Pickford (England). He is in the club of those who barely concede a goal and where they are alone Maingan and Pickford. The only thing more than them is First Simon, that sports a prestigious zero in the box of so many conceded.

Applauded by fans and recognized by the media

But Casteels had too much to hear the name of Courtois before reaching the point of tranquility he now inhabits. On the eve of facing France in the round of 16, he finally breathed a sigh of relief feeling that he had done his job well, applauded by his fans and recognized by the Belgian media.

It is, along with Kevin De Bruyne the only good news from an irregular team that even its fans gave a loud whistle when their players met them after a gray draw against Ukraine (0-0) where they has qualified for the round of 16.

Better data than Courtois

And if you compare the statistics of Casteels in the first three matches of the Euro Cup including the first three matches of Courtois At the World Cup in Qatar, the Real Madrid player lost. Casteels stopped at 92.86 percent of shots on goal received by 83.3 percent of Courtois. Comparing the last ten games in Belgium of the same, for some reason they also won Casteels, with fewer goals conceded (4 out of 10), best stop percentage by shots (84.6 to 76.7), and best clean sheet percentage (70 times 30)

Now, in the Euro Cup, Casteels has been decisive. He carried out interventions that avoided many problems for Belgium. In his team’s performance, beaten 0-1 by Slovakia, he couldn’t do anything avoid Ivan Schranz’s goal, which came after a very serious mistake Doc in one delivery. He didn’t even have to interfere, but left his performance flawless. It was later, against Romania, when Casteels scored a memorable game that drew everyone’s applause.

His merits at Euro 2024

Belgium beat Romania 2-0, but Casteels had to work hard. He saved a header from Florian Bocu; appeared to clear two very clear point-blank shots and completed a total of four decisive stops, notably one-on-one against Dennis Man where he put out the fire as his team only won 1-0 when he blocked Romania’s equalizer with his body.

And he also appeared in the last match against Ukraine. Belgium tied at 0-0, but Casteels got several attempts from Sudakov and Yaremchuk, that found the Belgian goalkeeper with two long shots, and another from Ruslan Malinovskyi, who scored an Olympic goal that was narrowly avoided by substitute Courtois. If it wasn’t for him, Belgium wouldn’t be in the round of 16.

He already said this before the start of the Euro Cup, after eleven years in place of Courtois and Mignolet. He was third for all his coaches, but Casteels always believed in himself: “I don’t feel any extra pressure because he has to replace Thibaut Courtois. I never doubted myself,” the goalkeeper said. recently signed by Al-Qadsiah of Saudi Arabia and managed by Míchel.

Now, it’s all happiness and praise for the Casteels. Courtois, who was injured for most of last season, made it clear in December that he would not be going to the Euro Cup. His successful reappearance in the final rounds of the League and in the Champions League finals reopened the debate. But Casteels didn’t care. He went about what he was doing, with admirable composure, and for 270 brilliant minutes he managed to make sure no one talked about what was probably the best goalkeeper in the world. Finally for Belgium, the loss of Courtois is real.