{"id":23074,"date":"2025-09-08T21:06:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T01:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/leicester-said-the-first-team-star-wasnt-enough-to-play-for-his-national-team\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T21:06:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T01:06:37","slug":"leicester-said-the-first-team-star-wasnt-enough-to-play-for-his-national-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/leicester-said-the-first-team-star-wasnt-enough-to-play-for-his-national-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Leicester said the first team star wasn&#8217;t enough to play for his national team."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/leicester-said-the-first-team-star-wasnt-enough-to-play-for-his-national-team\/#I_was_hanging_out_for_his_performance\" >I was hanging out for his performance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/leicester-said-the-first-team-star-wasnt-enough-to-play-for-his-national-team\/#faes_must_go_further\" >faes must go further<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\"><strong>The Belgian defender faces a turbulent spell in Leicester City, with uncertainty surrounding both his club situation and the international future.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">The 27-year-old, a regular Belgian starter under the former coach, has been removed from the team for International this month. His omission comes as a surprise given his previous consistency, but his recent struggle at Leicester raised questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">Despite being a first-choice defender last season, FAES has not started one league game in its current campaign, only coming from the bench.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">Former Anderecht and gentleman Hein Van Hazebruk claim he doesn&#8217;t deserve a national team place.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"I_was_hanging_out_for_his_performance\"><\/span>I was hanging out for his performance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>He told Voetbal Krant:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is working on a transfer, so according to coaches across the country, Openda and Van Footte are also working on a move and were selected.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It says something. How is things going backwards for us? He is allowed to stay for almost all of those games and the problem remains.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">Leicester manager Carlos Cifuentes defended FAES in recognition of his quality, but continues to prefer other options in his starting lineup.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"faes_must_go_further\"><\/span>faes must go further<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1-414x276.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1-630x420.jpg.webp 630w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1-768x512.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1-770x513.jpg.webp 770w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1-900x600.jpg.webp 900w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/italy-v-belgium-uefa-nations-league-2024-25-league-a-group-a2-1-1.jpg.webp 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 770px, (min-width:1020px) 630px, (min-width:900px) 880px, (min-width:680px) 97vw, (min-width:414px) 414px, 100vw\"><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Favorite acting for Belgium. (Photo: Emmanuele Ciancaglini\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">With the UK&#8217;s transfer period closed, the most likely route from FAES clubs will be through leagues where trades are possible, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-2 (&amp;+p):mt-4 (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):inline-block (&amp;_strong:has(+br)):pb-2\">It is clear that the 27-year-old is not at his best, and he lacks shape and confidence. This may be a good time for the fox to remove him and bring about an upgrade in the coming months. The Belgian needs a fresh start to return to his best, and travelling from the championship club is also ideal for him.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Belgian defender faces a turbulent spell in Leicester City, with uncertainty surrounding both his club situation and the international future. The 27-year-old, a regular Belgian starter under the former coach, has been removed from the team for International this month. His omission comes as a surprise given his previous consistency, but his recent struggle [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-23074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}