Evening Standard
·27 June 2024
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·27 June 2024
Red Devils fans noisily jeered the team as they limped into the last 16 with another unconvincing display against Ukraine
Kevin De Bruyne has called on Belgium fans to stick behind the team after they were booed off as they limped into the knockout stage with a 0-0 draw against Ukraine on Wednesday.
All four teams in Group E finished level on four points, with Belgium going through in second place on goal difference to book a last-16 tie with France.
Failing to win a kind-looking group means Belgium go into the tougher side of the draw, and unhappy supporters made their feelings clear following another poor performance.
De Bruyne seemingly instructed his team-mates not to head over to applaud the fans after the game. The Manchester City playmaker was making his way towards supporters behind the goal before appearing to change his mind as the whistling and booing intensified.
Frustration: Kevin De Bruyne and Belgium have flattered to deceive at Euro 2024 so far
Getty Images
“We need these fans, we need them against France,” said De Bruyne. “We just need them. I don’t know what else to say.
“We gave it our all during the three matches, everybody wanted to win the matches. We tried to do this but we didn’t manage to do so.”
Belgium fans were unhappy with a lack of urgency from their side to score a winner.
De Bruyne said: “I think until the 90th minute we tried to find solutions and afterwards I think Ukraine had a good chance, maybe two.
“When it’s one minute from the end of the match, you can’t take a risk. I understand people want us to win, but if I take the corner and they go down the other end and score, people are going to kill me.”
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