'What is the golden generation?' asks De Bruyne after Belgium slumps again

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Kevin De Bruyne stood, hands on hips, and tried to take it all in.

Belgium has flunked another major international tournament after a losing to France 1-0 in the round of 16 at the European Championship on Monday.

It was an all-too familiar feeling for one of the remaining members of his country's so-called golden generation. Not that De Bruyne appreciates the tag.

“What is the golden generation?” he asked when it was pointed out to him that a collection of Belgium's greatest players including Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku has never managed to reach the final of a major tournament, let alone win a trophy.

“You say that France and England and Spain and Germany is not a golden generation? OK.”

If De Bruyne was touchy, it was understandable at the end of a tournament in which Belgium slumped to a shock loss to 45th-ranked Slovakia and was booed by its own fans after drawing 0-0 with Ukraine. Those results sent Belgium into the knockout match with back-to-back World Cup finalist France.

It feels like time is running out for De Bruyne, who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Friday.

He couldn’t help his team to a title when it featured greats such as Hazard, Kompany and Courtois. With those players no longer around, Belgium exited Euro 2024 with a whimper. All-time leading scorer Lukaku failed to get a goal in four matches.

“I tried to do everything I could,” De Bruyne said. "This is not what we wanted, but although we were not one of the favorites, we let ourselves down in the match against Slovakia.”

De Bruyne said he hadn’t considered his international future, but he will turn 35 during the next World Cup in 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States. He missed much of last season through injury.

Belgium's best achievement with the golden generation was to reach the 2018 World Cup semifinals — beaten by eventual champion France -- and a climb to the top of the FIFA rankings.

It was eliminated from the group stage at the last World Cup, after which Hazard retired.

Under coach Domenico Tedesco, who replaced Roberto Martinez after the last World Cup, Belgium qualified for the Euros top of its group, while Lukaku was the leading scorer.

But it hasn't managed to reproduce that form in Germany.

“An hour after the final whistle and conceding a late own goal, it’s hard to go into an analysis,” Tedesco said. But he may face questions over his tactics against a France side that has hardly convinced at these Euros.

The No. 3-ranked Belgians showed limited ambition against a team ranked one place above them. De Bruyne — one of the best attacking players in the world — was deployed in a more defensive role and France dominated the chances.

That pressure finally told when substitute Randal Kolo Muani's shot deflected off Jan Vertonghen in the 85th minute at Duesseldorf Arena for the winning goal.

“The game plan that we had, we stuck to it pretty well,” De Bruyne said.

"They had obviously the possession. They had more shots on goal. It’s a shame that that’s the way the goal comes, but we have to take it.”

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

Randal Kolo Muani of France celebrates his side's first goal during a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Belgium players gesture to players at the end of a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. France won 1-0. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne is dejected at the end of a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne reacts after a 1-0 loss in a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Duesseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne gestures after missing a chance during a round of sixteen match between France and Belgium at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

NEW YORK (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said he chose not to testify Wednesday at his New York trial because he believes prosecutors failed to prove “every aspect” of the bribery case against him, a decision that cleared the way for closing arguments as early as Monday.

Lawyers for the Democrat rested their case after calling several witnesses over two days to counter seven weeks of testimony and hundreds of exhibits and communications introduced by Manhattan federal prosecutors.

Menendez, 70, maintains he is not guilty of charges that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold and cash from 2018 through 2022 in exchange for using his clout in the Senate to deliver favors benefiting three New Jersey businessmen.

Judge Sidney H. Stein asked Menendez to rise from his seat to confirm that the decision not to testify was his alone. Menendez said that after extensive talks with his lawyers, he had decided against taking the stand.

As he left the courthouse, Menendez told reporters: “From my perspective, the government has failed to prove every aspect of its case.”

He said that to “give them another chance" by taking the witness stand was “simply not something that makes any sense to me whatsoever.”

“I expect my lawyers will produce a powerful and convincing summation, deduce how the evidence came out, and where they failed across the board, and how the jury will render a verdict of not guilty,” Menendez said before wishing reporters who followed him to his car a “Happy Fourth of July.”

Two of the businessmen he is accused of bribing — Fred Daibes and Wael Hana — are on trial with him. A third, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty to charges and testified against the trio during the trial.

Daibes and Hana also have pleaded not guilty and were given an opportunity to present a defense, though the judge told jurors that the burden is on prosecutors and a defense was not required. Lawyers for Daibes rested at the same time as Menendez without presenting a defense. Hana’s lawyers began presenting their case by calling one of Hana's employees as a witness.

Prosecutors took seven weeks to present their case before resting last Friday. They offered evidence to show that Menendez’s wife, Nadine Menendez, served as a go-between most times to connect the senator and the businessmen.

Nadine Menendez, 57, who began dating the senator in 2018, has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, but her trial has been postponed as she recovers from breast cancer surgery.

Lawyers for Bob Menendez have argued that his wife hid her financial troubles from him, including an inability to afford mortgage payments on her Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home, along with many of her dealings with the businessmen. They’ve also said she inherited gold found in her bedroom during a 2022 FBI raid on their home.

An FBI agent testified earlier in the trial that he ordered the seizure of more than $486,000 in cash and over $100,000 in gold bars during the raid because he suspected that a crime may have taken place.

Among witnesses called by Menendez’s lawyers was his sister, Caridad Gonzalez, 80, who told the jury that members of her family routinely stored large amounts of cash at their homes after Menendez’s parents fled Cuba in 1951 with only the money they had hidden in the secret compartment of a grandfather clock.

“It’s normal. It’s a Cuban thing,” she said.

Bob Menendez was born after the family arrived in Manhattan.

Menendez has pleaded not guilty to bribery, fraud, extortion, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt. After the charges were announced in September, he was forced out of his powerful post as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He has resisted calls to resign from the Senate and a month ago filed papers to run for reelection as an independent.

Prosecutors allege that Daibes delivered gold bars and cash to Menendez and his wife to get the senator’s help with a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund, prompting Menendez to act in ways favorable to Qatar’s government.

They also say Menendez did things benefiting Egyptian officials in exchange for bribes from Hana as the businessman secured a valuable deal with the Egyptian government to certify that imported meat met Islamic dietary requirements.

A previous corruption prosecution of Menendez on unrelated charges ended with a deadlocked jury in 2017.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court following the day's proceedings in his bribery trial, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court following the day's proceedings in his bribery trial, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court following the day's proceedings in his bribery trial, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., departs the Senate floor in the Capitol, Sept. 28, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)