I didn’t mock Pickford’s height, says Courtois

THIBAUT COURTOIS has distanced himself from his criticism of Jordan Pickford and praised the England No 1 as a ‘great goalkeeper’. Following Belgium’s 1-0 group win, in which Pickford conceded from Adnan Januzaj, Courtois said: ‘The goalkeeper is 10cm smaller than me. I would have caught it. He was too busy throwing his legs in the air.’ But after the 2-1 victory over Brazil last night, Courtois quashed talk of a row with the Everton star. ‘I want to make it clear, I never mocked his height,’ he said. ‘I would never mock the height of a goalkeeper. I think he’s a great keeper and he proved it this year. I only said because he got a touch maybe I would save it because I am taller but I never mocked his height because I know he’s a great goalkeeper.’ Courtois made a number of superb saves to keep Brazil at bay and the Chelsea keeper added that he was proud of his display, given he received a lot of criticism last season. ‘I have been unfairly criticised a lot this year, today I proved again who I am and why I am here,’ said Courtois.