According to the Belgian football federation, Belgium winger Jeremy Doku returned to London after returning from the World Cup to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby named Praise on Monday.
In a statement from the Belgian Federation, team physician Brahim Hacene said, “Jeremy received news before yesterday’s match that the birth was imminent.”He was able to go without any health risks to be with his family at this momentous occasion because he had previously been receiving the proper medical care for a few days.Dr. Brecht De Coninck, my colleague, was with him. The mother, father, and infant are all doing fantastically, and everything went according to plan. Tomorrow night (Tuesday) in Seattle, Jeremy will rejoin the team,” Hacene continued.
Coach Rudi Garcia ruled Doku out the night before Belgium’s 1-1 draw with Iran in Los Angeles on Sunday.At the pre-match press conference, Garcia had stated, “He can’t play, so we’ll be playing without him,” noting that Doku was still recuperating from his illness. “I knew since Friday that he won’t be playing.”If a player isn’t medically fit to play, I don’t want them to. Even if a player isn’t fully recovered physically, I can still get them to play, but being fully recovered medically is more crucial.
After drawing their first two World Cup matches against Egypt and Iran, Belgium will play their last Group G match on Friday in Vancouver against New Zealand.
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