De Bruyne backed by boss for his tackle on Januzaj
ROBERTO Martinez saw Kevin de Bruyne wipe out Adnan Januzaj in Belgium training... and loved it.
A clip of the City midfielder clattering into the former United prospect before haring straight back onto the pitch went viral as amateur sleuths drew their own conclusions on how significant or not the tackle was.
But the incident made less of an impact on the Belgium national camp.
Asked about it, manager Martinez used it as an example of how his team – and the Blues star – are fired up for the World Cup.
“In a natural way, it shows you that it matters,” he said. “Winning a little small-sided game matters, there is a winning feeling in the group. You don’t want to hurt anyone.
“But now you can see an intensity in training that is a match intensity.
“It is something we have been working on, without things getting out of control.
“This is the tempo that we need in order to prepare for the games.”
Belgium began their campaign with a 3-0 win over group underdogs Panama yesterday.
Vincent Kompany will remain with the squad for the rest of the tournament, with the decision made to send home standby defender Laurent Ciman. The City captain and Thomas Vermaelen have both trained away from the group after picking up injuries.