The Red Devils cannot afford to make a mistake against Wales if they want to secure qualification for the World Cup. It is therefore not surprising that people often think back to the most prominent defeat against the Welsh, at the 2016 European Championship.
There the Devils were surprised with 3-1 and their tournament promptly came to an end in the quarter-finals. One of the protagonists in that match was Radja Nainggolan, who scored the Belgian goal with a clever long-range shot.
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It would actually be the highlight of Il Ninja’s career with the Red Devils. After all, he would quickly disappear from view. After the European Championship, Roberto Martinez became national coach and Nainggolan was never in the top drawer for the Spaniard.
Martinez even decided to bypass Nainggolan altogether for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where the Devils would capture bronze. The explanation that the national coach gave for that decision at the time still infuriates Nainggolan.
Apologies not accepted
“You have to move forward in life, but I have never accepted his excuses and I will never accept them,” the midfielder said. Sudpresse. “He had me come to the airport in Rome. I had to drive 50 minutes to see him and then he told me I couldn’t go to the World Cup.”
“Because he couldn’t give me the role I had at Roma. He didn’t want me as a substitute because he thought I would run amok on the bench,” Nainggolan still grumbles. “But contrary to what Martinez said, I have never had a problem with anyone. I still don’t know where he got that statement from.”
