Belgium and AC Milan star Charles De Ketelaere says he is a big admirer of Kevin De Bruyne and explained what impresses him most about the Manchester City midfielder.
At 31, this could be De Bruyne’s last World Cup as Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ have one last crack at the big time on the world stage. De Ketelaere is at the opposite end of the scale, the 21-year-old being viewed as the future of the national team.
His summer move to Milan from Club Brugge hasn’t gone as smoothly as he would have liked with only one assist to show from his 18 outings. But he has a great role model in De Bruyne to learn from as he looks to build on his 10 caps for Belgium.
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Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, De Ketelaere listed the attributes that he likes most about De Bruyne’s game. He said: “I always admired De Bruyne, both for his tactical role and his elegance, someone who makes playing football look so easy.
“We have a lot of talented players in the squad, some of the best in the world, so we youngsters try to learn from them. Playing for Belgium was my great childhood dream, it’s wonderful to have achieved it so young. Playing in the World Cup is a dream come true.”
Two of De Bruyne’s 25 Belgium goals have come at World Cups, scoring at both the 2014 and 2018 finals. The City hero admitted he is “excited” about what he realises could be his final bow at a World Cup.
“It will be the third one and it is always special,” he said, as per 90min. “These events are great as everyone is watching it.
“It is big but there is no point to stress about it. It is my third time, I understand what is coming and I cannot speak for someone else who will be there for the first time. [The impact of the mid-season World Cup] is unknown. There is no point worrying about it or thinking about it. You take it as it comes and try and play as well as possible.
"We are not talking about it with teammates. The schedule is too hectic. We had two away games quickly after each other.”
Belgium lost 2-1 to Egypt in their World Cup warm-up match on Friday ahead of their Group F opener with Canada on Wednesday.
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