Nainggolan Aims Swipe At Martinez Over World Cup Snub

By Joshua Walters

Radja Nainggolan has taken a swipe at Roberto Martinez, and says the Belgian national team coach short-changed him with his exclusion from the Russia 2018 World Cup squad.

Nainggolan was left out of the squad reportedly on disciplinary grounds, after he was pictured smoking in a club five months before the tournament.

Martinez had earlier set his selection criteria on consistency at club level, but Nainggolan, who had featured in 50 games for AS Roma was omitted, on grounds that he would be a bad influence on the side while players with lesser appearances were invited.

“I was really, really disappointed with the fact that I'd played a great European Championship and then I was discarded for nothing,” the midfielder, who announced his retirement from the national team after the snub, told ESPN.

“I see things differently. In Belgium, there were players who were not playing at club level and they were getting called up.”

“I was playing 50 games and was still being left out. I was never demanding that I had to play. I just deserved to be there in place of some other players.”

“Then there were the excuses, but they were all pathetic. Why was I playing 50 games for Roma if I was leading the same life (I was being criticised for)?”

“I think it's wrong when people say things without speaking to me first. You've got to say things to my face. We can have a talk and then we shake hands and you don't call me up again, but I've got more respect for you than somebody who doesn't do that.”