Plenty of time for Bellingham brothers clash, says Kovac after Jobe's CWC suspension

New Straits Times

2 days ago

ATLANTA: Jobe Bellingham may want to steer clear of tackling when the clock ticks over to the 28th minute of his next match.
The midfielder was on track to face his brother Jude of Real Madrid in the Club World Cup quarter-finals but after picking up a yellow card in Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win over Monterrey on Tuesday he will instead be looking on from the sidelines.
That booking, for a foul on Nelson Deossa, was his second of the tournament and arrived in the 28th minute at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The 19-year-old's first yellow card came in Dortmund's 1-0 group stage win over South Korean side Ulsan HD – also in the 28th minute.
"I think we all saw that he was very disappointed," Dortmund manager Niko Kovac said. "I think he did not exactly know that the second yellow card is a suspension at halftime. He was a little bit surprised."
While one door has closed, Kovac said there will be more opportunities for the siblings to face each other.
"Okay, he's young. His brother is also young, so I'm convinced they will face each other, maybe next season in the Champions League, and then the future. The future is for them.
"And yeah, the Club World Cup would be nice, but now it isn't. Someone else must play for him, but it's also okay."
Jobe, who sealed a 33 million euros ($38.92 million) move to Dortmund from newly-promoted Premier League club Sunderland in June, was substituted in the 55th minute to avoid any chance of a red card, said Kovac.
"I substituted him not because of his performance. I changed because he had a yellow card in this game, and you saw we had some very intensive duels, and I did not want that someone is maybe then booked twice," Kovac added.
Jude, 22, also played for Dortmund from 2020-2023 before making the switch to the Santiago Bernabeu.