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Published 20:04 18 Jun 2016 BST
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"I bluffed! I bluffed," he said of his mooted changes. "The players were aware of this, they were all aware. We waited for the right time. We spoke about this privately and knew the team had to give their all and were mentally ready."
How Wilmots enjoyed informing the Belgian journalists that he used them to his own ends. Theirs is not a friendly relationship so, having taken all the flak for the 2-0 loss to Italy, he was sure as hell not going to let an opportunity for revenge pass by.
With his voice rising as he switched between French and Flemish, the former politician unloaded on the journalists - telling them that only death, and not criticism, will have any effect on him.
"I think it is manipulating the people, giving them the wrong idea," he said of stories that suggested the players dislike him. "Sometimes the criticism is just manipulation, I live with criticism. "I don’t think, apart from death, anything else can effect me."https://twitter.com/me_stafford/status/744196588520751104 While stressing that "unity is important" Wilmots refused to answer questions about the conversations he has had with his players ahead of the game and said that critics will never be happy with their own lives. "What I say to them stays between us. I am not going to explain what I said to the media," said the former Standard Liege and Schalke midfielder. "People being negative is not interesting for me. People who criticise are never going to have a good life," he added, before dismissing their criticism as something he has grown accustomed to. "[You'll soon be] sacking me again and I am used to that. Don’t worry."

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