German police
a few days ago
Belgium
Manager Tedesco responded to the complaints by saying that Belgium's late arrival at the stadium could only be blamed on their own decisions.
Tedesco complained after the Belgian team's match against Ukraine that the police escort had caused them to take an inordinate amount of time, affecting the team's preparation for the match. However, German police spokesman Frank Belz told the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Allgemeine Zeitung that the police had advised the Belgian team to leave 60 minutes earlier, but the Belgian Football Association rejected the suggestion and insisted on a 40-minute travel time.
Belz pointed out that the traffic conditions on the road were not a problem caused by the police escort, but rather the Belgian team's failure to heed the police's travel advice, which ultimately led to the time-critical dilemma they encountered in pre-game preparations.
The Belgian team drew widespread attention to Tedesco's complaint in local media reports, but the German police response emphasized the contradiction between police advice and the Belgian team's autonomous decision.
