On July 9, ahead of the match against Spain, Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia gave an interview.

What is De Bruyne's physical condition? Will he be able to start?

Rudi Garcia : "Apart from Amadou Onana, who is unfortunately injured, all other players are currently available. Onana's serious injury is very unfortunate for him personally and a huge loss for our team."

He is a very important player, and we are deeply saddened by this.

In addition, there is one player who is currently unavailable, but I don't want to discuss him today (Debast). He still has a chance to play in the future, so that is not an issue to focus on now. As for other matters, there are no problems. We will discuss the full squad and some details after the World Cup, around July 20.

In the match against Senegal, the team struggled for a spell but ultimately came from behind thanks to the substitutes. What has changed in the team since that match?

Rudi Garcia : "You might just be getting to know this team, but I know them. I know the character of this team. I know their resilience and their desire to change the situation when they encounter difficulties. The true value of a team or a coach is not reflected when everything is going smoothly, but in difficult times, even when difficulties arise within a match."

Against Senegal, we encountered problems because they are a very good team.

If they weren't in the same group as Norway and France, they would definitely be capable of a higher ranking. But we showed the overall strength of the team, including the players on the bench. For example, Lukaku came on at halftime, and the other substitutes all changed the game.

I've seen a statistic showing that Belgium are the team with the most goals and assists created by substitute players in this World Cup. This shows that the entire team is very important. My players know this.

Please tell us about your squad depth.

Rudi Garcia: "Typically, I divide the game into two phases. One is the starting 11 players. The other is the players who finish the game. And we are very fortunate because we have a very deep squad. I can make substitutions to make the team more attacking, more physically confrontational, or more defensively focused. This is our advantage. When you have a historic striker sitting on the bench, it's a luxury. Of course, we communicate a lot with Lukaku. Because he hasn't had much playing time throughout the season, it's not realistic for him to start continuously from the beginning. But as I said before, when he steps onto the field, even if he's better at hiding his thoughts than I am (laughs), he will still put immense pressure on the opponents. In fact, he could absolutely be a coach."

He kept me believing he would come on as a substitute, but tomorrow he might start instead. In that regard, he is even better than me (laughs). When opponents see a player like that come on, they feel pressure. Their confidence drops, and their worries increase. So Lukaku can make an impact when he comes on. But as he said, it is not all down to him. It is a team effort. All of us firmly believe that we can continue moving forward. Of course, if one day in the future we face a team that is truly stronger than us, we might lose. But until then, we will do our best to defend our chances. We not only believe we deserve to reach the quarterfinals, but also believe we can go further."

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