Thibaut Courtois’ Fiancee Speaks After Belgium’s Captaincy Dispute With Romelu Lukaku

• Thibaut Courtois' fiancee Mishel Gerzig has leapt to the defence of the Belgian star
• Courtois was said to have walked out of national team duty after a captaincy snub
• Romelu Lukaku was picked ahead of the Real Madrid star in the game versus Austria

Thibaut Courtois' fiancee, Mishel Gerzig, has spoken hours after news broke of the apparent row between the goalkeeper and Belgium's head coach, Domenico Tedesco, over captaincy duties.

In the absence of new skipper, Kevin De Bruyne, following the retirement of Eden Hazard, Tedesco gave the armband to Romelu Lukaku against Austria.

The decision is said not to have gone down well with Courtois, who staged a walkout of the national team, as GOAL reported.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper was a no-show ahead of their second game against Estonia. However, he insisted his absence was due to a knee injury.

Other reports stated the tall custodian skipped the game ahead of his wedding to Gerzig in France next week.

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Gerzig defends Courtois amid row

Gerzig herself waded into the apparent captaincy row, launching a fierce defence of her soon-to-be husband. The Israeli model uploaded two heavily worded posts on her Instagram stories.

"The strongest person I know. I am proud of you," she captioned one of the images.

The caption was accompanied by a photo of Courtois with a strapped knee in what looked like a jet. The other post featured a photo of the former Chelsea goalkeeper standing alongside Lukaku, with the words:

"No one can take away the legendary player you are, the leader, the fighter. You always put the team and the club in front of your eyes and give your 1000%. Even when you are in pain. You never give up."

Gerzig added that she was sorry to hear 'all the rumours' being 'spread by people that just waited for the opportunity' to put Courtois down or harm his name.

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"Those people don't understand that you are the definition of high-quality football. A player that plays from the heart and a supporting, stable rock to his teammates. A true leader, a real legend. And legends never go down. By no one."

Lukaku captained the Red Devils again against Estonia, with the Chelsea loanee to Inter Milan scoring twice. Matz Sels replaced Courtois between the sticks.

Courtois' issue with De Bruyne

Sports Brief also reported that Courtois' recent Champions League final prediction was very subtle at face value, admitting he wanted to see Lukaku beat De Bruyne on June 10.

The keeper did not get his ideal result either way, but fans read the goalkeeper's wishes differently. He and KDB are believed to be at odds over an incident dating back to 2012/13.