Kevin De Bruyne criticised by ex-Man City teammate for comments on Belgium’s World Cup chances as Red Devils accused of showing ‘no passion, fight and energy’ in shock defeat to Morocco

Kevin De Bruyne has been criticised by Pablo Zabaleta for his comments suggesting Belgium's squad was too old to win the World Cup.

The quotes from the midfielder emerged before their World Cup clash against Morocco, with De Bruyne saying their best chance at glory has already come and gone and the current team are now outside contenders.

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"I think our chance was 2018. We have a good team, but it is ageing," De Bruyne told .

"We lost some key players. We have some good new players coming, but they are not at the level other players were in 2018. I see us more as outsiders."

De Bruyne's comments went some way to being proved right, with Belgium suffering a shock 2-0 defeat against Morocco in their Group F encounter.

However, his former Manchester City teammate Zabaleta criticised him for the comments and accused Belgium of lacking passion, fight and energy at the Al Thumama Stadium

"We spoke about the mentality of that Belgium team. When you have some of your best players coming out and saying 'we have no chance at this World Cup, the squad too old' it will affect the mentality of the squad," Zabaleta said.

"We have seen no passion, no fight, no energy, nothing.

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"They still have individual quality to win games and get through the last 16 but it is really sad to see that Belgian group of players not fighting for the country."

The result means the Red Devils surrender their spot at the top of the group to Morocco and will need to get something from their final match against Croatia on Thursday to be sure of qualification to the Round of 16.

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