Belgian police have shot dead the man that killed two people in Brussels prior to Belgium’s Euro 2024 qualifier with Sweden on Monday night.
Abdesalem Lassoued killed two Swedish nationals and injured another person in an automatic rifle attack in the Boulevard d’Ypres suburb. The incident took place just over 5km from the Stade Roi Baudouin where the international fixture was taking place.
Lassoued has since been shot dead by Belgian forces at a cafe in Schaerbeek, though Brussels remains on its highest terror alert.
Belgium prime minister Alexander De Croo said: “Perpetrators, they try to instil fear, distrust and division in our free societies. Terrorism. Terrorists must understand that they will never succeed in their intent.”
The match between Belgium and Sweden was abandoned at half-time with the score at 1-1 following goals from Romelu Lukaku and Viktor Gyokeres.
A minute’s silence was held pre-match but players and coaches did not understand the severity of the situation until half-time. There was a unanimous decision between players from both sides that the game should not continue into the second half, with Sweden boss Janne Andersson revealing this was when they had first learned about the shooting.
“When I came down for the break, I got this information. Immediately, I felt that it was completely unreal. What kind of world do we live in today?” he said.
“I came into the locker room and when the team started talking, we agreed 100% that we didn’t want to play on out of respect for the victims and their families.”
Sweden captain and Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof added that he does not want that match to be replayed, telling reporters: “Belgium are already qualified and we don’t have the opportunity to get to the European Championship, so I see no reason to play [replay the game].”
Fans were slowly evacuated from the stadium starting at 11:45pm local time, with the last set of Sweden supporters escorted by police into the city at 4:00am. The Sweden team were also given a police escort back to the airport.
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