Belgium NT - Only Expectations And Inexperience Stand In The Way Of Hazard, Fellaini & Co.

The First round of the World Cup 2014 Qualifiers concluded last week and the finalAi??standings of Group A surprised a few people. Belgium finished the group on top with 26Ai??points, a tally outpaced only by Germany and Netherlands in their respective groups. It,Ai??however, also heralded the coming of age of the Belgian International side as many hadAi??predicted at the end of Euro 2012.

When we think of Belgium, we think of chocolates and Brussels sprouts but not football.Ai??The Belgians have always been under the shadow of their more illustrious neighbours.Ai??When one thinks of European football, countries like Spain, Germany, Netherlands,Ai??France and Italy come to mind. Seldom are Belgium counted in the same list. In light ofAi??this, their dominance in their group is all the more striking. The relevance of this result isAi??made starker by the fact that less than 5 years ago, Belgium had slipped to 71 in the FIFAAi??rankings. Today, the Red Devils (yes the Belgian Team shares that name with ManchesterAi??United) are being billed as the dark horses for next year’s football magnum opus to beAi??held in Brazil. So what really brought about this change? Let’s try to find some answers.

The Belgian side today boasts of a healthy list of young and talented footballers. Fans ofAi??the English Premier League would be familiar with many of them.Ai??Between the sticks the duo of Thibaut Courtois, on loan to Atletico Madrid fromAi??Chelsea, and Simon Mignolet of Liverpool are more than enough cover that any managerAi??could hope for. Both men are having a stellar season and opponents have been hardAi??pressed to put goals past them. Mignolet has instilled a much needed sense ofAi??invulnerability at the Kop, allowing the team to spend more time attacking rather thanAi??defending. On the other hand, Courtois received a national call up when he was notAi??even 20 in an international friendly making him the youngest goalkeeper to ever play forAi??the national side. Just 21 years of age, Courtois is one of the most promising young goalAi??keepers around the world and has already broken several club records while at Atletico, in addition to helping them beat Real Madrid after 14 years en route to the 2013 Copa delAi??Rey final.

Manchester City captain and defender Vincent Kompany is considered by many to beAi??one of the greatest centre backs in the world today. He has been a defensive rock at theAi??back for City and his impact on the team is truly felt when he is out of play. He isAi??partnered in the Belgian back four by Spurs’ star defender Jan Vertonghen and ArsenalAi??skipper Thomas Vermaelen, who are establishing reputations of their own that haveAi??made others take notice and attracted transfer attention from clubs like Barcelona andAi??Real Madrid. As though these three were not enough, Bayern Munich centre back DanielAi??van Buyten brings to the table an assured presence at the back and a constant goalAi??scoring threat in the opponent’s 18 yard box.

Belgium are no slackers in midfield either. Chelsea duo Eden Hazard and Kevin DeAi??Bruyne are two of the finest attacking and playmaking midfielders in the English PremierAi??League. If Marc Wilmots needs a physical presence in midfield he can call upon the likesAi??of Manchester United’s Marouanne Fellaini or Spurs’ powerhouse Mousa Dembele. Spurs midfielder Nacer Chadli brings the wing play element to the table for Belgium ifAi??they would wish to have one.

And if even the midfield stack fails to impress you then prepare to be awed by theirAi??forward line up. Everton’s Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku (on loan from Chelsea) andAi??Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke do regular duty for the national side. These are the sameAi??names that figure on the Premier League’s scoring sheets week after week.Ai??In fact this listing almost makes one believe that the Belgian international side is a betterAi??English (representation) side than Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions themselves. Point toAi??ponder.

Importantly, this change has not been overnight. Belgium has worked very hardAi??for it. Belgium fell from its sunshine years in the late 80s to abject disappointments inAi??the 90s capped by a ponderous first round exit in the 2000 Euro Championship. TheAi??Belgian FA took matters into their hands and drew up a 10 year plan to turn thingsAi??around. Player development plans were made and shared with local clubs at every levelAi??from school to pro. A uniform 4-3-3 formation was employed across the board toAi??enhance ball retention and positional flexibility between players. Although the BelgianAi??team failed to qualify for the 2008 Euros and 2010 World Cup, their U-17 squad reachedAi??the semi-finals of the 2007 U-17 Euro Championship. These kids were products of theAi??system instituted by Belgium FA in 2000. Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke wereAi??members of this squad. Today the same players are playing in the international teamAi??and performing at those lofty levels.

There is also another advantage of these changes made in Belgium. Clubs likeAi??Anderlecht, Genk, FC Brussels and Standard Liege have moved up into the UEFAAi??competitions like Champions League and Europa League. This in turn brings them intoAi??the notice of the big boys of club football who then pick up the talented players fromAi??these sides to play for them. This gives the players an opportunity to play with andAi??against some of the most talented professional footballers of the world. ThereAi??can be no arguments about how much experience Eden Hazard would gain playingAi??alongside a wily old pro like Lampard or Terry or how Fellaini and his personal growthAi??would be impacted when he rubs shoulders with players like Rooney and RvP on a dailyAi??basis. Add to this the world class medical and training facilities available at almost allAi??these clubs and the players truly get a chance to achieve their full potential and muchAi??more.

Marc Wilmots and his team now stand on the cusp of greatness having achievedAi??qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Rest assured their playing style would haveAi??been studied thoroughly and come June 2014 the gloves would be off. The Belgian sideAi??has a lot of talent and promise and the young squad has a lot of belief in its own skills. They also, however, have their own demons to battle. First, is the demon ofAi??expectations. Sports writers across the world have begun comparing this side to those ofAi??the late 80s that regularly reached the last four of major tournaments. Second, is theAi??demon of inexperience. While Belgium has truly been marvelous in the group qualifyingAi??stage, their opposition was Croatia, Serbia, Scotland, Wales and Macedonia. Croatia andAi??Wales provided some amount of resistance to Belgium and drew a match each againstAi??them. The other teams in the group, however, rolled over too easily. Earlier, a strugglingAi??French side held Belgium at home to a goalless draw in a friendly match and last year the Red Devils lost to England in a friendly fixture. They are yet to face power houses likeAi??Germany and Spain or even the 2014 WC hosts Brazil and in fact their only major scalp inAi??the past couple of years has been Netherlands whom they defeated 4-2 in August 2012.

Overall, the Belgians are yet to face any real competition and in the heat of competitionAi??when the situation is a tight one, the rawness and inexperience of the young side isAi??likely to show in comparison to more seasoned campaigners in the Spanish, German andAi??English squad.Ai??What can, however, be said is that exciting times lie ahead for Belgium.

Belgium can draw inspiration from the exceptionally young side thatAi??Germany successfully fielded in the last edition of the competition. The squad thatAi??earned the bronze medal in that competition are the same that will take to the fieldAi??next year as one of the top favourites. Marc Wilmots’ team may not be completely readyAi??but they have a very good headstart over compatriots and if all their players live up toAi??their talent, they will surely regain the lofty heights achieved by their predecessorsAi??more than 25 years ago. It’s enough to say that Roy Hodgson would give his eye-teeth forAi??even a few of those youngsters that don the red jersey for Belgium.

– Siddharth Kumar Singh

Belgium NT – For Hazard, Fellaini & Co. Only Expectations And Inexperience Stand In The Way

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