Wilmots laments lack of Kompany for Belgium squad

Brussels (AFP) – Belgium coach Marc Wilmots named a 24-man pre-Euro 2016 squad on Thursday, without injured captain Vincent Kompany.

The 47-year-old coach must reduce the list to 23 players by May 31 ahead of the June 10-July 10 finals in France.

And with Manchester City centre-back Kompany set to miss the tournament due to a groin problem, Wilmots named nine defenders in his squad due to a number of other injury concerns.

“I’m terribly disappointed by Vincent Kompany’s absence, he’s our leader and he won’t be there,” said Wilmots.

The coach has doubts over Barcelona’s Thomas Vermaelen, Dedrick Boyata of Celtic and Nicolas Lombaerts, who plays for Zenit St Petersburg.

All three will be monitored during training.

Wilmots added six players to a reserve list due to the number of defensive injury uncertainties.

Amongst them are Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli and Kevin Mirallas of Everton.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea/ENG), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool/ENG), Jean-Francois Gillet (Mechelen)

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham/ENG), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham/ENG), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit St-Petersburg/RUS), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona/ESP), Jason Denayer (Galatasaray/TUR) Dedrick Boyata (Celtic/SCO), Bjorn Engels (Bruges), Jordan Lukaku (Ostende), Thomas Meunier (Bruges)

Midfielders: Moussa Dembele (Tottenham/ENG), Radja Nainggolan (Roma/ITA), Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United/ENG), Axel Witsel (Zenit St-Petersburg), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/ENG), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/ENG), Dries Mertens (Napoli/ITA), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid/ESP)

Forwards: Mitchy Batshuayi (Marseille/FRA), Romelu Lukaku (Everton/ENG), Christian Benteke (Liverpool/ENG), Divock Origi (Liverpool/ENG)

Reserves: Matz Sels (Gent), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact/CAN), Laurens De Bock (Bruges), Guillaume Gillet (Nantes/FRA), Nacer Chadli (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER), Kevin Mirallas (Everton/ENG)