New Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco on Friday omitted Axel Witsel and Dries Mertens from the squad to face Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifier on March 24 and a friendly against Germany four days later.

After the international retirement of Eden Hazard, Simon Mignolet and Toby Alderweireld, Tedesco has plumped for a flush of youth to make up for the disappointment of Belgium’s first-round exit at last year’s World Cup in Qatar.

The 34-year-old Witsel, capped 130 times, is the biggest casualty of that policy, Tedesco saying the decision to drop the Atletico Madrid player was “extremely tough”.

More details on SportsDesk. 

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