Thibaut Courtois Ends Exile, Returns to Represent Belgium in Soccer

Prior to Courtois' comeback, Koen Casteels, who has been filling in as Belgium's No. 1 goalkeeper in Courtois' absence, made the announcement last Sunday that he will no longer be representing the national team.

"I find it a bit strange that Thibaut Courtois can decide for himself whether he can come back. And I find it very strange that the federation should flip-flop in this way and roll out the red carpet," said Casteels on a podcast.

"There are a lot of players who think the same as I do."

Belgian outlet Sudinfo also reported last week that not all the players seemed to be in favour of Courtois' return -- a situation likely to complicate Garcia's start to life in his new role.

"We'll have to discuss (this) with a select group, the leaders. We'll talk about it once and then some more. It's a new page that's opening up," said Garcia.

For his first squad since taking the reins, Garcia has called up 19-year-old Lyon forward Malick Fofana and 17-year-old Ajax starlet Jorthy Mokio, who could make their debuts.

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However, the squad still boasts plenty of experience with Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans all present on the list of 26.

Belgium will take on Ukraine in a two-legged play-off on March 20 and 23, with their place in League A of the Nations League at stake.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid/ESP), Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Senne Lammens (Genk), Maarten Vandevoordt (RB Leipzig/GER)

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Defenders: Timothy Castagne (Fulham/ENG), Zeno Debast (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge), Koni De Winter (Genoa/ITA), Wout Faes (Leicester City/ENG), Thomas Meunier (Lille/FRA), Brandon Mechele (Club Brugge), Arthur Theate (Frankfurt/GER)

Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/ENG), Bryan Heynen (Genk), Jorthy Mokio (Ajax/NED), Nicolas Raskin (Rangers/SCO), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa/ENG), Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)

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Attackers: Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta/ITA), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City/ENG), Malick Fofana (Lyon/FRA), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli/ITA), Dodi Lukebakio (Sevilla/ESP), Lois Openda (RB Leipzig/GER), Alexis Saelemaekers (Roma/ITA), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal/ENG)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)