Nainggolan: 'Martinez's excuses for leaving me out were pathetic'

Nainggolan was a surprise omission from Belgium's 23-man travelling party for the tournament in Russia, with the 30-year-old opting to quit international football in the wake of the snub.

Whilst his problem appears largely to be with Martinez, Nainggolan insists that he will not come out of international retirement in the future, even if the former Wigan and Everton boss departs his role.

"I was really, really disappointed with the fact that I'd played a great European Championship and then I was discarded for nothing," Nainggolan told 'ESPN FC'.

"I see things differently: in Belgium, there were players who were not playing at club level and they were getting called up.

"I was playing 50 games and was still being left out. I was never demanding that I had to play, I just deserved to be there in place of some other players."

Nainggolan's off-the-field lifestyle has been the source of much debate in the past, with many accusing him of lacking in professionalism and engaging in vices such as smoking and drinking, but the man himself insisted that his own personal behaviour had nothing to do with Martinez's decision, which was based on "pathetic" reasoning.

"Then there were the excuses, but they were all pathetic. Why was I playing 50 games for Roma if I was leading the same life (I was being criticised for)?2 he insisted.

"I think it's wrong when people say things without speaking to me first. You've got to say things to my face, we can have a talk and then we shake hands and you don't call me up again but I've got more respect for you than somebody who doesn't do that."