News from the camp of Ukraine's Euro 2024 group rival. One of the famous attacking midfielders of the Belgian national team, Hans Vanaken announced that he will not be in the national team's bid for the upcoming European Championship.
"Nobody should have any influence on the choice of the national team head coach. Yes, I feel that I can still help the national team, contribute to its future successes, and I know that I differ from other midfielders of the national team in some of my playing qualities, but we have to start from the reality of today.
I don't take the European Championship into account. I could already plan my holiday for the summer.
Domenico Tedesco (head coach of the Belgian national team - ed.) has always been very correct with me. He called me several times to explain his decisions. I appreciated that. I hope we will perform well at the European Championships," Het Nieuwsblad quoted Vanaken as saying.
It should be noted that during the qualifying cycle of Euro 2024, the 31-year-old Vanaken was called up only once to the matches of the Belgian national team (last June, for the match against Austria and Estonia), but he never appeared on the pitch.