De Bruyne targeted by lasers at Euros before delivering near perfect response

26 June 2024 , 16:55

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Lasers were shone in De Bruyne's eyes at the game in Stuttgart (Image: ITV Football)

Kevin De Bruyne was targeted by lasers during Belgium's Euro 2024 clash with Ukraine - but he very nearly had the last laugh.

Manchester City star De Bruyne was captaining his side in the crucial Group E encounter when he lined up to take a free-kick around 45 yards out and to the right of the goal.

As the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Amadou Onana and Wout Faes waited for De Bruyne to deliver a cross into the box, he stopped and began gesturing to referee Anthony Taylor.

It was quickly apparent that a green laser was being shone in De Bruyne's eyes as he took the kick, and he after his complaint to Taylor the Premier League referee reported the incident to the fourth official.

Angered, De Bruyne then returned to the ball and, as players on both sides prepared for him to cross, he brilliantly went for goal and almost caught out Ukraine goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin, who dived to his left and was delighted to see the shot hit the side-netting.

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Belgium and Ukraine went into the match tied on three points in Group E, with Slovakia and Romania also on three points after all four teams won one game and lost one game in the group.

De Bruyne was a target for lasers in the clash in Stuttgart (Getty Images)

It is the first time that has happened in Euros history, but Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco was confident that his side would make it through to the last-16.

"We are going out to win the game," he said. "We can’t start to calculate or speculate, we want to win this game.

"In the last seven minutes of the game maybe we know what we want to do to keep a result but from the beginning there is no issue, we go to win.

The Belgian captain then almost scored a superb goal (ITV Football)

""Of course we need to be confident, normally there is no reason not to be confident but in football you can never be sure.

"We are sure we need a big game because Ukraine is a big team. We saw several games of them, not just during the qualifiers against England, but now also games here at the Euros and before the friendly (0-0 draw) against Germany - I think they were the better team."

Mark Jones