That's indeed a true story but is over a decade ago now - they're not best friends but have some good moments at the national team together since so definitely not the issue right now.
Courtois was butthurt that Lukaku was interim captain in Vertonghen's absence instead of him, and acted like a child because of it during an international break some time ago. Can't recall perfectly but I think he cited (read: faked) an injury, left early and had a row with our new manager Tedesco. Then Tedesco elaborated on the issue in the press which was not done according to Courtois so their beef got even bigger. There was some shade throwing back and forth, Tedesco commented on the issue again a few months later and Courtois reacted on an Instagram post about it with a "Pinocchi lier" emoji.
Then he indeed stated (way too early) that he wouldn't be ready for the Euros this summer (which was bullshit), and made a melodramatic post which was all about him and how he was treated and so on and forth, a total disgrace imo. To see him perform like he did last Saturday on the biggest stage, but him still not wanting to play because of the whole thing with Tedesco, is just nuts. I hope he never plays a game for our national team again, he's an utter wanker with far too big of an ego for his own good.
Our current biggest stars are so unlikeable imo, all three of Courtois, KDB and Lukaku just don't cut it for me. Courtois is a tosser, KDB plays for City and is revered in our national press way too much, doesn't ever get criticism when he plays badly, and Lukaku is quite unlikable as well with some of his past comments. The nice guys like Dembele, Hazard, Mertens are all gone from the national team by now unfortunately.
We'll probably get through our group pretty easily without playing great football, then crash out against the first decent opponent we'll face (I think France in the quarters is a realistic scenario). With an in-form Doku and De Bruyne performing at his best (which won't happen imo) we might surprise, but I highly doubt it. De Bruyne hasn't been good for Belgium since 2018, Lukaku disappears against good opponents, and our defence is even more suspect than it was during our "glory days".
How I want us to play:
Casteels
Castagne Debast Vertonghen De Cuyper
Onana De Bruyne
Trossard Tielemans Doku
Openda
How I think we'll play:
Casteels
Castagne Witsel Vertonghen Theate
Onana Tielemans
Trossard De Bruyne Doku
Lukaku
