There would be outrage if a lesser player was scything down the likes of a Kevin De Bruyne or Eden Hazard with just days before Belgium’s first game of the World Cup.
It seems unwise for anybody to dive in on a teammate in the build-up to such a huge tournament, which is why fans think there’s some kind of issue between De Bruyne and international compatriot Adnan Januzaj.
In an opening training session this week, Manchester City’s De Bruyne held nothing back when he dived in to a challenge on Januzaj on the touchline.
Januzaj, who has been at Real Sociedad after his spell at Manchester United came to an end, looked to be in considerable pain on his knees while De Bruyne jogged unapologetically away from the incident.
https://twitter.com/EnzioHouwaart/status/1007365712854298625
Being a creative playmaker, it’s not like De Bruyne to throw himself into lunging tackles and it seems bizarre to do so on a teammate.
Januzaj will likely have to settle for a place on the bench throughout Belgium’s involvement in the World Cup but that surely doesn’t make it acceptable for higher profile players to get away with challenges that could potentially injure teammates.
We wonder how many more headlines would have been made if it was the other way around…
De Bruyne tryna end Januzaj's world cup https://t.co/vA0cWmY4Wc
— Dan Lavelle (@dancjlavelle) June 15, 2018
Kevin De Bruyne doesn't care that it's just training. He doesn't like Adnan Januzaj. 🤣🤕🇧🇪 https://t.co/P6roklwxWU
— Matched Betting Lad (@Matchedbetlad) June 15, 2018
This seems a bit strange. Kevin De Bruyne absolutely levelling Januzaj in training for Belgium and doesn't even check if he's okay.https://t.co/vyumjQXelK
— Ball Street (@BallStreet) June 15, 2018
actually casemiro made a tackle in training and they called him a "cunt" because of that. so what is kdb then? didn't even look if januzaj was ok. he just walked away from him. jfc, it's training!
— 🐰⭐🫧 (@alwaystofu) June 15, 2018
i like januzaj. KDB is a wrongen
— Chris Vardy (@CSVardy) June 15, 2018
Wow 😳 He really doesn't like Januzaj 🙈👊🤣 https://t.co/8QXjD5woFn
— Si Waldock (@SiWaldock) June 15, 2018