Belgium coach Roberto Martinez stated he was leaving his job after his facet have been eradicated from the World Cup in Qatar following a 0-0 draw with Croatia on Thursday. The 49-year-old had been in cost since 2016 and his contract was as a result of run out after the match. “That was my last game with the national team, I can’t carry on,” Martinez stated at his post-match press convention. “It’s the time for me to accept that this is the last game.”  Martinez led Belgium to a third-place end on the 2018 World Cup in Russia and to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals final yr.

But his ageing facet couldn’t replicate that kind in Qatar, crashing out after scoring only one objective in three video games.

The Spaniard stated he was all the time planning to go away after the World Cup.

“That was the end, whatever would happen, whether we were world champions, whether we went out in the group stage,” he stated.

“It’s got nothing to do with being eliminated in the group stage.

“Since 2018 I had many alternatives to go away, take jobs at membership stage, however I needed to be loyal. I do not resign, it is the top of my contract.”

Belgium went into their final group F game needing to win to be certain of reaching the last 16 after a 1-0 win over Canada and a 2-0 loss to Morocco.

They were left to rue a string of missed late chances by Romelu Lukaku.

“Today, if we’d’ve gone by I believe we’d’ve seen the true Belgium and we may’ve been very aggressive within the subsequent rounds,” insisted Martinez.

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