BELGIUM legend Radja Nainggolan slammed fellow Golden Generation stars Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois as “divas”.
Nainggolan, Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne and Courtois were all part of the greatest Belgian side that was tipped to dominate world football but ended up fizzling out without a single trophy to show.
The quartet shone bright during the 2018 World Cup when they finished third after beating England and made the quarter-finals at Euro 2020 where they were eliminated by eventual winners Italy.
However, Belgium quickly dwindled as they were eliminated in the group stages of the 2022 World Cup and knocked out of the Euro 2024 Last 16 after barely making it to the knockouts.
Nainggolan explained the Golden Generation never worked out because it had too many players that wanted to stand out as “the protagonist”.
The 36-year-old compared the situation he faced with that of Paris Saint-Germain who had the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar and still didn’t manage to achieve anything notable.
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Nainggolan told Gurulandia: “I think it’s like Paris Saint-Germain, with all these phenomena Messi, Neymar, Mbappe.
“We had Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne, Courtois. When you put all these players together, there are too many protagonists, too many divas.
“They all wanted to be protagonists, to be the most important player, and that can’t work.”
The Golden Generation has been dying out in the last few years with Hazard retiring, Courtois falling out of favour and Nainggolan being axed.
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De Bruyne hinted he could be following them out the exit door last week after a miserable 2-0 Nations League loss in France.
Cameras caught the Manchester City superstar having a heated discussion with departing sporting director Frank Vercauteren.
And the playmaker appeared to be saying “I quit” in his native language.
The Belgium captain’s post-match comments fuelled fears he may be on his way out as he slammed the performance and criticised manager Domenico Tedesco’s tactics.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
