Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says he will support Belgium at Euro 2024 despite not being selected for the squad, while he insists he is ‘100 per cent’ fit.
The 32-year-old missed most of the campaign with an ACL injury sustained in pre-season and then tore his meniscus in March just as he was closing in on a return to action.
He has bounced back from that setback, starting four of Real’s final five La Liga matches of the season, and is yet to concede a goal.
Courtois is expected to start in Saturday’s Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund, though he will not be involved with Belgium at the Euros after being omitted from Domenico Tedesco’s 25-man squad.
The Italian-German coach previously said he was ‘focusing on players who are in good shape’ and did not want to get into a ‘tit-for-tat situation’, having fallen out with Courtois over an argument about the captaincy last year.
Courtois, though, has suggested he would have been fit enough to play for Belgium but has wished his team-mates well at the Euros – though hinted he would speak more openly about the snub after the Champions League final.
‘Now is not the time to talk about that,’ Courtois told AS when asked about his absence from this summer’s tournament in Germany.
‘Of course, I will support my country and my team-mates here [at Real Madrid] to death, hoping they all have a great Euros.’
Courtois is set to start at Wembley in the Champions League final (Picture: Getty)
On whether he is ready to play, he continued: ‘A lot of people thought my season was over, but I always hoped to play again.
‘That day against Cadiz [his first game back] was a personal victory and since then I have continued training hard to show that I am the same as always, that nothing has changed.
‘I feel 100 per cent and ready for the gaffer to decide who to start at Wembley.’
He continued: ‘I know myself well, I know that I can do a lot, and therefore I never lost the mental belief that I would get back to the same as before, or even better.
‘I have gained muscle mass in my upper body and in my legs as well to protect my knees. That makes me have more power.
‘I took advantage of the time [on the sidelines] to get stronger here [points to torso].
‘There was the unknown element of that first match against Cadiz, but once you’ve played the first, and then the second, I started to feel like I always do, as if I had never left.
‘I liked being able to transmit that security and tranquillity to the coach and my team-mates.’
In the absence of Courtois, Tedesco has picked Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels, Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels and relegated Luton Town shot-stopper Thomas Kaminski.