My Bloodshot Eye Is Not Preventing Me From Performing, Says Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois

 

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insists his scary bloodshot eye is by no means hampering his performances. The Belgium number one sat on the bench for his country's 1-1 friendly draw with the Netherlands on Wednesday after recovering from an illness that made him burst a blood vessel in his left eye.

He said “after the Manchester United game I came home and got sick, I had to vomit a few times and you force yourself, and it was just a vein that popped in my eye. It looks scary. It was the Halloween period so then it was okay but now it's not going away. They said 10 days and it's already been two and a half weeks but it doesn't affect me in the game. Some pictures look worse than it is. There's nothing to do about it.”

Courtois has kept seven successive clean sheets for Chelsea and Belgium, failing to concede since the win at Liverpool in September, which has helped propel the Blues into the Premier League top four. His manager at Stamford Bridge, Antonio Conte, has recently played down talk of his side being in title contention but Courtois hopes they can be there or thereabouts come May.