For the Red Devils, things are becoming poisonous since their skipper turned his back on Stuttgart’s supporters.

Fortunately, none of beers were hurled. Boos were present, though. Many of the things could become poisonous for the Red Devils since their skipper turned his back on Stuttgart’s supporters.

Luckily, none of beers were hurled. But there were boos. Lot of them. And Kevin De Bruyne was not having it. De Bruyne was irritated by their criticism of the draw with Ukraine that had just guaranteed qualifying for the last 16 of Euro 2024 after guiding his Belgium team-mates over to salute the majority of his compatriots gathered in the MHPArena in Stuttgart.

He thus told his teammates players to go back to the dressing room and avoid the supporters. From the captain, who is not unfamiliar with controversy about the national team, this was a brave action.

Indeed, De Bruyne’s tenure with his nation runs a very real chance ending in more bitterness and booing as France now stands in the way of the last remaining players of Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation belatedly achieving their promise at international level.m.. Kevin De Bruyne wasn not having it either. De Bruyne was irritated by their criticism of the draw with Ukraine that had just guaranteed qualifying for the last 16 of Euro 2024 after guiding his Belgium team-mates over to salute the majority of his compatriots gathered in the MHPArena in Stuttgart.

He thus told his teammates players to go back to the dressing room and avoid the supporters. From the captain, who is not unfamiliar with controversy about the national team, this was a brave action.

Indeed, with France now standing in the way of the last remaining members of Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ belatedly fulfilling their potential at international level, there’s a very real risk that De Bruyne’s career with his country will end in more bitterness and boos.

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‘Too old’

De Bruyne prides himself on his honesty, but he’s well aware that his frankness upsets some people. “Everyone knows that I don’t beat around the bush,” he once admitted, “but any criticism I have is always with good intentions, to help everyone do better.”

De Bruyne’s decision to unleash a devastating truth bomb on Belgium shortly before the start of their 2022 World Cup campaign was difficult to understand, though. “No chance, we’re too old,” the attacking midfielder said in an interview with The Guardian when asked whether his country could win the tournament. I believe our chance fell in 2018. Though it is aged, we have a fantastic team. We lost some very important players.

“We have some good new players coming, but they are not at the level other players were in 2018. I see us more as outsiders.”

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Divides the dressing room

De Bruyne was accurate, of course. Belgium hardly made it out of the group stage in Qatar, but his pre-tourney assessment felt like a self-fulfilling prophesy, as if the Red Devils weren’t good enough because De Bruyne declared they wouldn’t be.

Although De Bruyne’s harsh evaluation of the squad’s strength barely helped bring the players together, Roberto Martinez’s men most likely would have struggled nevertheless; on the other hand, it very naturally divided the dressing room. After the 2-0 loss to Morocco on matchday one, there were even rumours of some players, including De Bruyne, almost getting into fights.

Speaking immediately following the defeat, seasoned defender Jan Vertonghen had even cynically said, “I guess we attack badly because we are also too old up front too…”

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‘Never been so happy’

Consequently, the aftermath from Belgium’s first-round elimination was so contentious that De Bruyne’s international career was even under discussion. While Toby Alderweireld also left, Eden Hazard quit right away after Qatar; De Bruyne notes he never considered following suit, “not even for a second, actually”.

Domenico Tedesco, Martinez’s successor, not only made De Bruyne captain but also helped the team to be rejuvenated. For De Bruyne, who was thrilled by the “energy” in the group, the first international gathering following the World Cup felt like “an introduction new class-mates at a new school”.

“It’s still been a shock because half of the usual squad is no longer there,” he said last year. “But it feels fresh. The newcomers want their chance as we used to want our chances.”

De Bruyne’s behaviour in the friendly match against Montenegro at the beginning of the month was far more upbeat than his missed most of the qualification campaign due to injury as well as the March internationals.

“Everybody says that he’s never been so happy, so positive, and I think you can feel that,” Tedesco enthused only last week. “It’s important that we get the lads onto the pitch in that kind of mood.”

It’s fair to say, though, that the mood of the fans has since become an even bigger talking point.

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‘Need the fans to stay with us’

De Bruyne was instrumental in getting Belgium back on track by netting in the following 2-0 victory over Romania following the stunning setback to Slovakia on matchday one. Promotion for the last 16 was back in their hands and top spot in a weak Group E was also up for grabbing.

De Bruyne chose to call Johan Bakayoko over to assist him time-waste, though, when Belgium won a corner in injury time in their 0-0 draw with Ukraine, instead of hitting the ball into the box in an attempt to produce a late winner. As it happened, the fans expressed their displeasure with such a lack of drive at the full-time whistle.

They first jeered the whole team. They then jeers De Bruyne at his announcement as the Player of the Match.

“We tried to win the match,” De Bruyne insisted in his post-match press conference. “We had goal-scoring opportunities, but we didn’t take any risks with the corner because we knew we might concede a goal.

“If that happens, you’re out of the Euros. It’s a shame we didn’t manage to score before – we had opportunities – and after that we just need the fans to stay with us. We need these fans. We’ll need them against France. That’s all I have to say.” For now, at least.

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‘No filter’

Among those who have publicly backed De Bruyne’s approach towards the supporters is Thomas Meunier. The seasoned Belgium defender said to reporters, “The advantage of Kevin is that he has no filter.” “He says what he believes, and I adore such kind of people. The players followed when he decided to enter. That was the appropriate call to action.

“The reaction from the fans and the analysts was disproportionate because, at the end of the day, we qualified. It’s not like we were last in the group. We did our job. Okay, maybe we could have done it a bit better but we are at a European Championship, you cannot win every game 3-0, 4-0. We got what we wanted and that’s the most important.

“We also wanted to greet the fans, but the problem started when they were whistling at Romelu [Lukaku]. Nobody understood that; you don’t whistle out your record international (scorer).”

Booing athletes never helps boost performance or confidence, as Amadou Onana and others pointed out. Of course, the counter-argument is that the show of irritation with the misfiring forward was rather reasonable even if it was scarcely beneficial.

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Now or never

It’s easy to argue that one of the game’s best playmakers has been routinely let down by his colleagues; even De Bruyne himself seemed absolutely confused as Lukaku missed a brilliant through-ball in the 0-0 draw with Ukraine.

De Bruyne has, nevertheless, also let down major games for Belgium over the years and, in Qatar, he was not only a victim of Belgium’s collapse but also a contributor. Furthermore, this is his squad now; so, the captain bears extra responsibility for stepping up to meet France’s challenge and mend Belgium’s damaged relationship with its supporters.

Since this feels for De Bruyne and Belgium like either now or never. They all also know it too. De Bruyne is thirty-three; another World Cup most likely is beyond him. This is most certainly his last chance to capture a title with his national team; he will need all the support he can receive on and off the pitch.

It was therefore not surprising to see him adopt an unusually diplomatic approach in his post-match interviews last week, De Bruyne merely repeating over and over again that the team needs the supporters totally behind them in Dusseldorf, instead of launching another attack on them.

In the end, though, everything will rely on Belgium’s performance with the degree of aspiration expected of such a talented collection of players. If they don’t, if another tournament finishes in a meek exit, this may all go bad and the residual memory of De Bruyne’s time in the international arena will be the ridiculous sight and sound of a Player of the Match winner being booed by his own team’s supporters.