Belgium's Jérémy Doku welcomes first child after exiting camp during World Cup

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Belgium forward Jérémy Doku has officially welcomed his first child, the team announced Monday. Per the team, Doku flew to London on Sunday to join his wife for the birth of their son, Praise.

In a statement, team doctor Brahim Hacene said the team had prepared for his potential departure in order to ensure that there would be no medical risk of him flying back to Europe. Doku was also accompanied by another team doctor, Brecht De Coninck.

"As he had already been receiving the appropriate medication for several days, he was able to travel without any medical risk in order to be with his family during this special moment," Hacene said. (Hacene did not clarify what medication Doku was taking.)

Doku will return to Belgium's base camp outside of Seattle on Tuesday evening, per Hacene.

As a result of the exit, Doku missed out on the team's second group stage game on Sunday, against Iran. On Saturday, Belgium initially said Doku would not play in the match "due to illness."

Doku, who plays for Manchester City, first mentioned the possibility of leaving camp for the birth ahead of the team's 1-1 draw with Egypt.

"I would like to be there," Doku said at the time. "No father would want to miss that. I know that the federation is aware and we will see what we can do."

But in the days after that comment, the 24-year-old forward was subject to bizarre backlash from critics scolding Doku for putting his family ahead of the team. French media outlet L'Equipe had to disavow comments from presenter France Pierron who criticized Doku's priorities, calling childbirth "a disgusting moment, if you'll excuse the expression, where the dad is completely useless." Pierron later apologized.

The Red Devils went on to a scoreless draw with Iran on Sunday after going down to 10 men in the second half. Defender Nathan Ngoy was given a straight red card in the 66th minute for denying Iran's Mehdi Tahremi of a goal-scoring opportunity; from there, Belgium went all-in on defense in an attempt to salvage a tie.

It's possible Doku's presence might have changed the outcome, but Belgium's issues during the first two games of the group stage have been bigger than one player. With Doku back, Belgium will hope to secure a return to the knockout round with a win over New Zealand on Friday.

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