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4th July 2016
02:23pm BST
"I bluffed. I bluffed! "The players were aware of this, they were all aware. We waited for the right time. We spoke about this privately and knew the team had to give their all and were mentally ready."Well, it now turns out that not all the players were informed of Wilmots' actual plans. The 47-year-old, according to a damning report in Nieuwsblad, had an inner circle of trusted players that included captain Eden Hazard, Alex Witsel and injured skipper Vincent Kompany, who was over in France for the tournament. Wilmots did not divulge his full plans, or line-up, to the wider squad. In fact, Christian Benteke was under the mistaken belief that he would be starting up front in the group game, in Bordeaux. The £32m Liverpool striker was said to be extremely upset to learn he would be on the bench. His fate only emerged when Belgium reached the stadium and assembled in the changing room, a little over two hours before kick-off. He eventually came on as a second half substitute in the victory.
As for Moussa Dembele, he learned he would be replace Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan in the same changing room chat.
When teams win, such tactics are often lauded. For example, Shane Duffy found out he would start in the centre of Ireland's defence, against Italy, when he arrived in Lille for his side's final group game.
When a team loses, and accusations of disorganisation fly, the coach often cops the flak. Such is the case for the under-fire Wilmots in what the Belgian media have declared 'a sordid story'.
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