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Thibaut Courtois says Belgium must beat Ireland after Euro 2016 defeat to Italy

Emanuele Giaccherini shoots past Thibaut Courtois to put Italy ahead against Belgium
Image: Emanuele Giaccherini beats Thibaut Courtois to give Italy the lead against Belgium

Thibaut Courtois says Belgium's Euro 2016 meeting with Ireland on Saturday has become a must-win match after their 2-0 defeat to Italy.

Marc Wilmots' team are the highest-placed Europeans in the world rankings in second place, and travelled to France with high hopes of reaching the latter stages of the tournament.

They now sit bottom of Group E after the Irish drew 1-1 with Sweden in Paris and Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois concedes an immediate upturn in results is required to avoid elimination.

He told uefa.com: "I'm really disappointed. I don't think we did enough except towards the end when we created a few chances but not enough to score.

"It was Italy who had the best chances. They were organised and tactically they were the better team. It was a really tough game and on Saturday we have to go out and win now.

Courtois reacts after conceding the first goal in Lyon
Image: Courtois looks downcast after conceding the first goal

"We knew it was going to be a tough game and they defended really well. I don't think they created any real clear-cut chances to kill off the game.

"The last goal was a counter attack and it came from a second ball, which we weren't solid enough to go and claim. They were quicker to it than us.

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"On Saturday we need to go out there and do more. The first match is always very important, especially against a team like Italy - if you win that, then you're in a good position.

"But we're lucky the other match ended 1-1. Now we have to win the other two matches and be a better team."

Courtois and Jan Vertonghen look on as Graziano Pelle scores the goal which gives Italy a 2-0 win over Belgium
Image: Courtois and Jan Vertonghen look on as Graziano Pelle scores the goal which sealed Italy's 2-0 win

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen admitted Belgium had failed to live up to their billing against Antonio Conte's Italians.

He said: "It was a disappointing result for us. We had expected more. We knew we would be up against a really good opponent but it's a shame we lost 2-0.

"Their defence was excellent. We knew we would not get many chances and if we did, we knew we'd have to score and unfortunately we didn't."

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