BELGIUM:
Already named as the golden generation of Belgian football. But this side hasn’t qualified for any major tournament since 2002, yet they go into this as fifth favourites in the bookies. Individually their starting 11 will boast a majority of very good players, but now collectively they must show that they have got the minerals and after years of working together they will be a squad of togetherness and cohesion. They are a very good team and they qualified with ease but now is the time to show the world what they are about. Before their impressive 2-0 win over Sweden at the beginning of this month the side hadn’t won in four matches and against lesser opponents too.
RESULTS THIS SEASON (13/14):
FR – 14 Aug – H France (0-0)
WCQ – 6 Sep – A Scotland (2-0) – Defour, Mirallas
WCQ – 10 Sep – A Croatia (2-1) – Lukaku 2
WCQ – 15 Oct – H Wales (1-1) – De Bruyne
FR – 14 Nov – H Colombia (0-2)
FR – 19 Nov – H Japan (2-3) – Mirallas, Alderweireld
FR – 5 Mar – H Ivory Coast (2-2) – Fellaini, Nainggolan
FR – 1 Jun – A Sweden (2-0) – Lukaku, Hazard
FR – 7 Jun – H Tunisia (1-0) – Mertens
SQUAD:
1 – GK – Thibaut COURTOIS – 17 caps, 0 goals – Chelsea (England)
2 – DF – Toby ALDERWEIRELD – 34 caps, 1 goal – Atletico Madrid (Spain)
3 – DF – Thomas VERMAELEN – 47 caps, 1 goal – Arsenal (England)
4 – DF – Vincent KOMPANY (c) – 59 caps, 4 goals – Manchester City (England)
5 – DF – Jan VERTONGHEN – 56 caps, 4 goals – Tottenham Hotspur (England)
6 – MD – Axel WITSEL – 48 caps, 5 goals – Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
7 – MD – Kevin DE BRUYNE – 21 caps, 4 goals – Wolfsburg (Germany)
8 – MD – Marouane FELLAINI – 50 caps, 8 goals – Manchester United (England)
9 – FW – Romelu LUKAKU – 29 caps, 6 goals – Chelsea (England)
10 – FW – Eden HAZARD – 45 caps, 6 goals – Chelsea (England)
11 – FW – Kevin MIRALLAS – 44 caps, 9 goals – Everton (England)
12 – GK – Simon MIGNOLET – 14 caps, 0 goals – Liverpool (England)
13 – GK – Sammy BOSSUT – 0 caps, 0 goals – Zulte Waregem (Belgium)
14 – FW – Dries MERTENS – 25 caps, 3 goals – Napoli (Italy)
15 – DF – Daniel VAN BUYTEN – 79 caps, 10 goals – Bayern Munich (Germany)
16 – MD – Steven DEFOUR – 43 caps, 2 goals – FC Porto (Portugal)
17 – FW – Divock ORIGI – 2 caps, 0 goals – Lille (France)
18 – DF – Nicolas LOMBAERTS – 25 caps, 2 goals – Zenit St Petersburg (Russia)
19 – MD – Mousa DEMBELE – 57 caps, 5 goals – Tottenham Hotspur (England)
20 – FW – Adnan JANUZAJ – 1 cap, 0 goals – Manchester United (England)
21 – DF – Anthony VANDEN BORRE – 25 caps, 1 goal – Anderlecht (Belgium)
22 – MD – Nacer CHADLI – 20 caps, 2 goals – Tottenham Hotspur (England)
23 – DF – Laurent CLIMAN – 8 caps, 0 goals – Standard Liege (Belgium)
MANAGER:
Marc Wilmots is the man who scored Belgium’s last World Cup goal, but now he is the man in charge after taking the job two years ago, bumping up a seat from his assistant manager role. He has done very well in turning this team of talented individual players into a team and is well respected by those players. Despite their first major tournament appearance in 12 years the pressure is very much on his side to perform.
KEY PLAYER:
Eden Hazard proved he was worth every penny of his £32m transfer to Chelsea this season and has taken his form for the Blues into the Belgian team. The World Cup is the ultimate stage for him to show if he is truly in the breed of a world class player, if he lives up to the bill then Belgium will go far.
BEST OF THE REST:
This squad oozes quality, in goal you have arguably the best keeper in world football at the moment with Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet as his deputy. At the back there is the captain Vincent Kompany who guided Man City to another title this season. In midfield the combination of match winners like Mirallas and De Bruyne are combined with the defensive qualities of Axel Witsel and Mousa Dembele and up top there is Romelu Lukaku a man so powerful he was allegedly born before his dad. In a transfer-like tussle between Albania, Belgium and England, the Belgians managed to secure the services of Adnan Januzaj who can also be a match winner.
PREDICTION:
The world will be watching to see if these guys are the real deal and on-paper they have one of the best sides in world football but I feel the pressure will be too much for these young players, their squad has only one player over 30. They will get past this group but then will likely face Germany or Portugal, I feel the Germans will be too strong for them and the Ronaldo-factor will take Portugal far in this tournament.
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