Courtois : Les footballeurs peuvent apprendre beaucoup des joueurs de la NFL

Belgian goalkeeper Courtois attended the national team training camp press conference. This article is the first part of the press conference.

Will Belgium adopt a different style of play for the upcoming matches, particularly against Egypt and Iran?

You can never predict the exact course of a match. Sometimes you think you'll have plenty of saves to make, but that might not be the case. I think Egypt is a team that performed very well against New Zealand previously. They're a team that isn't afraid to shoot, have strong scoring ability, and their crosses are very dangerous. So I've prepared mentally and technically for all possible situations, which our goalkeeper coaching staff did as well—studying the characteristics and qualities of all opposing players. Therefore, I'm always prepared to help the entire team as much as possible.

Hello, Thibaut. After drawing 1-1 with Egypt, are you feeling the sentiment currently circulating in Belgium? The disappointment might be greater than expected since everyone naturally assumed the first match against Egypt would be a sure victory. Do you feel this pressure or sentiment?

Honestly, I haven't really felt it. I think the time difference is too significant for us to follow everything happening back home in real time. Of course, everyone always wants to start with a brilliant match, but if you look at all the matches in this FIFA World Cup so far, you'll see that upsets and turnarounds happen frequently, or there have been many unexpected draws. That's the beauty and cruelty of the FIFA World Cup.

And I think Egypt adopted a very targeted strategy. They assigned two or three players specifically to mark Doku, and also tried to disrupt Kevin's (De Bruyne) rhythm. In the second half, I felt like we somewhat "shot ourselves in the foot" because we missed too many passes, and the pace of the game wasn't fast enough. However, in the latter part of the second half, we played somewhat better, and that's when Belgium really showed the kind of team spirit everyone expected.

So the main task now is to play our own style from the start of Sunday's match, and of course, our passes need to be more accurate. If we can do that, I think we can play a great match. But of course, we must always respect our opponents; they can be very dangerous on rare counterattacking opportunities. So the key is to try to keep a clean sheet and try to score first.

The pitch here in Seattle is quite dry. As a goalkeeper, is this a disadvantage for you? Do you hope things will be different in Los Angeles?

Actually, I feel fine, not as bad as I imagined. The main issue is that the grass is quite long, not really very dry, and fortunately, the staff watered the pitch at halftime. For goalkeepers, longer grass can indeed be a problem. For example, Salah's header—he struck it with a lot of power, but after the ball landed on the grass, it suddenly slowed down due to resistance. I was already prepared to jump and save based on the ball's speed, so my save at that moment wasn't quite precise, because you touch the ball earlier than expected, so it takes time to adapt.

As for Los Angeles, since the stadium there has a roof, we'll need to see the specific pitch conditions. But overall, the pitch conditions here are still good, much better than at last year's FIFA Club World Cup.

Thibaut, you seem to have a particular fondness for American sports. Is it the spectacle aspect here, or the winner-takes-all mentality that attracts you?

Yes, actually, I just enjoy watching these matches. The NBA and NFL are my two favorite sports to watch. Of course, in America, when you're physically present in these stadiums and see all the entertainment surrounding the match, it feels very energetic, especially for the live audience.

But what attracts me most is their dedication and work ethic, especially NFL players. I think as footballers, we can sometimes learn a lot from them, particularly their obsession with film study. They arrive at the training facility at 8 or 9 in the morning and don't leave until 7 or 8 in the evening, because they not only have physical training but also spend the entire afternoon in video analysis meetings studying opponents.

Of course, the NFL is perhaps more tactical since they have so many complex play schemes. However, I think footballers should sometimes learn that level of focus, because in football, many people start losing concentration after watching 15 minutes of analysis video, and that kind of distraction would be impossible in an NFL environment.

Tom Brady and Luka Dončić are both your friends. Have you been in contact with them recently?

Yes, we stay in frequent contact. Luka is back in Europe now, and Tom Brady has also been following our matches; he was in New York at the time. I told him before he should come see our match in person. But of course, he's on the other side of America now, so it's not easy to fly over. But they are indeed professional role models worth learning from, especially Tom Brady. I think his passion for work and extreme professionalism are evident. Also, during a previous E1 powerboat championship, I had an in-depth conversation with him, and he was there to win. He's a pure winner and an inherent champion, and seeing his mentality is really impressive.

One last sports question: you're only 3 centimeters shorter than Dončić. Do you think you could be a good basketball player?

Uh, my shooting skills aren't very good, I'm not very accurate. But I can dunk, and if I had to do a dunking demonstration in public, everyone would be very surprised. But yes, I played a bit of basketball as a child, but that's not what I do best. I think volleyball is perhaps another sport where I'm quite good.

And you're 11 centimeters taller than Jalen Brunson... Wait, can you hear me?

No, please come closer to the microphone... Okay, that's better now.

Traduit par IA.