The Belgian national team will follow the approach adopted by Chelsea in managing the minutes of midfielder Romeo Lavia during the remainder of the international break, in light of the player’s record of injuries and physical problems.
Lafia has suffered from repeated fitness problems since his move to Chelsea from Southampton in 2023, and has never played a full official match in the London club's shirt.
But the player made a promising start this season, and participated more regularly with Chelsea, benefiting from the improvement in his physical condition and technical level.
Lafia got the opportunity to start for the first time with the Belgian national team during the last match against France, after he had participated as a substitute against Italy.
His limping in the final minutes of the match against France raised some concerns about his condition, before it later became clear that he was only suffering from a muscle strain.
It is expected that Lafia will not start when Belgium hosts the Turkish national team, on Friday evening, as part of the technical staff’s keenness to carefully manage his participation minutes.
Coach Mark Van Bommel said: “Romeo came on as a substitute against Italy, played 85 minutes against France, and gave a great performance. However, you can expect that I will not start him in the next match.”
Van Bommel also touched on the situation of striker Romelu Lukaku, stressing that his lack of starting participation in recent matches does not mean that he is out of his account.
He said: “It is not true at all that Romelu cannot participate as a substitute or start, quite the opposite. “It depends on what we think we need at each stage or situation.”
He added: “He has certain characteristics, but I felt that in that match we were playing a little far from the goal, so we needed speed.”
Charles de Keteelaar started in the spearhead position against both Italy and France, as Lukaku replaced him against Italy, while Van Bommel used Mathias Fernandez-Pardew during the France match.
The Belgian coach confirmed that he constantly communicates with Lukaku, saying: “I talk a lot with Romelu. I also went to see him in Istanbul and spoke to him via FaceTime about the situation and style of play. I don't want to say that Romelu can't do it, quite the opposite. The only obstacle is that he does not play much with Fenerbahce.”
The British Prime Minister confirmed, on Thursday, that Manchester City is not “above the rules,” following the criticism that targeted Prime Minister Andy Burnham due to his statements regarding the club’s violations of the financial rules of the English Premier League.
A spokesman for Downing Street, 10 Downing Street, said: “As the Prime Minister has made clear, the initial ruling is serious, and there can be no suggestion that anyone is above the rules.”
Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, confirmed in statements to the BBC on Wednesday that he did not want to see the Emirati owners of Manchester City withdraw from the club as a result of the case.
He said: “I would be very worried if we lost them,” referring to the amount of investments made by Abu Dhabi United Group, the controlling owner of the club, in the city of Manchester.
Manchester City, the 10-time English champion, faces an uncertain future after being convicted of committing more than 100 violations, while the club continues to deny committing any violations.
It was found that the Abu Dhabi-backed club arranged deals described as “sham” with the aim of inflating its revenues and reducing its costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.2 billion) during the period between 2009 and 2018.
The British Prime Minister stressed the need to allow the ongoing independent procedures regarding the case to take their course, while respecting the results that will emerge from them.
The spokesman added: “Wherever wrongdoing is proven, those responsible should face appropriate consequences.”
Roberto Mancini, coach of the Italian national team, confirmed that his team will enter its upcoming match against France, on Friday, in the European Nations League, in search of victory, noting that the lineup will witness fewer changes compared to the last match against Türkiye.
The Italian team has performed at different levels in the tournament so far, after suffering a harsh loss at home to Belgium 0-2, before regaining its balance with a major victory away from its stadium over Turkey, led by coach Vincenzo Montella, with a score of 4-1.
The Italian team faces a difficult test in Paris against the French team, which leads Group A with a comfortable margin over its competitors, after the latter succeeded in winning its two matches away from home with a score of 1-0.
Mancini said in statements to Sky Sport Italia: “It will certainly be a great match against a high-class team that includes exceptional players, but we always want to leave a good impression and we will do our best.”
He added: “When you face strong teams like these, you never play with the intention of not winning. It is normal for us to enter the match looking for victory, and after that anything can happen during the match.
The Italian national team is missing the services of Giacomo Raspadori and Nicolo Zaniolo after they left the camp due to injury, while 9 other players remained to train at the Coverciano Center, namely Samuel Inacio, Alessandro Romano, Honest Ahanor, Nicolo Campigi, Diego Coppola, Daniele Gilardi, Eddie Quadio, Rolando Mandragora, and Massimo Pessina.
Mancini explained that he had not decided his lineup yet, saying: “I have some doubts about the lineup, and we will evaluate things tomorrow morning to see the extent of some players’ recovery after the Bursa match.”
Regarding his attacking options and the possibility of relying on Pio Esposito or Moise Kean, Mancini proposed another option, saying: “Or maybe Scamaka? “What is certain is that we will make fewer changes than what we saw in Bursa.”
