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People think Roberto Martinez moonwalked out of his final interview as Belgium manager

Home> Football

Updated 19:55 1 Dec 2022 GMTPublished 19:22 1 Dec 2022 GMT

People think Roberto Martinez moonwalked out of his final interview as Belgium manager

The 49-year-old has left his role as Belgium manager.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Fans think Roberto Martinez ended his tenure as Belgium manager by 'moonwalking' out of his final post-match interview.

The 49-year-old, who succeeded Marc Wilmots as Belgium manager after their quarter-final exit at Euro 2016, led his side to a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.

But four years later, the Red Devils struggled to live up to their 'Golden Generation' tag in Qatar as their campaign was clouded by dressing room conflict and verbal altercations.

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After picking up just three points in Group F ahead of their final game against Croatia, Belgium needed a win against Zlatko Dalic's side to qualify.

Instead, they produced a lacklustre display of finishing, featuring a hat-trick of misses from Romelu Lukaku and a host of sloppy passes.

After picking up a point to finish in third, Martinez confirmed his exit from the job in a post-match interview.

He said: "That was my last game. It was emotional as you can imagine. The decision was taken just before the World Cup. I always work towards the long-term projects and they need to be set in advance.

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"Since 2018 I had many opportunities to leave to take jobs at club level. I always wanted to be loyal and finish the job. I don't resign - it is the end of my contract. That was always the plan."

Then, in a quite bizarre moment, the former Everton manager walked backwards out of shot – leading fans to speculate that he 'moonwalked' out of his final interview.

One fan commented on the video, saying: "Did Roberto Martinez just moonwalk out of the job?" while another said: "I cannot stop watching this."

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A third wrote: "Some way to leave your position as Belgium manager to be fair."

Martinez, who finished his tenure as Belgium boss with a record of 56-13-11, expressed his pride after taking charge of the national team for six years.

He said: "It's been six years since I arrived with a clear idea to qualify for the World Cup. You get engaged with the people and we felt we needed to give it another go.

"It's been a real joy. I'm so proud of these players. It's been amazing, it's been six years that we have been able to do everything you want to do in a club in a national team and that makes me extremely proud. We love the way this team has played.

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"It has given us incredible joy. It is the time for me to accept that this is the last game."

Image credit: Alamy
Image credit: Alamy

Thoughts on Martinez's exit?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Roberto Martinez, Belgium, Football World Cup, Croatia

Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare

Jack is a Senior Journalist who enjoys a long read. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Football Manager wonderkids from 2005 to the present day, and has interviewed a handful of FM's finest, including Freddy Adu, Supat Rungratsamee and Mika Aaritalo.

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@jackkenmare_

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