It is a truth universally acknowledged that Georges Leekens has little time for players who feel they are more important than either the team or Georges himself. Back in October, Leekens left Eden Hazard sitting in the stands for the qualifier with Kazakhstan; the word was that Leekens and his assistant Marc Wilmots had not been impressed by the Lille star’s attitude in training. Fast forward to last week’s game in Vienna and the newspapers are full of pictures of Hazard sitting on the bench – where he was for 90 minutes – looking distinctly gloomy.
But this should surprise no one. Rewind to the 1998 World Cup in France, Leekens was overseeing his first spell as Belgium’s national coach. He’d recalled Enzo Scifo to the squad, and the playmaker had somewhat reluctantly consented to return. Scifo was Belgium’s biggest ‘star’ by far and if he agreed to play it was on the assumption that he would be in charge on the pitch. After two drawn games, Belgium had to beat South Korea to stay in the competition. A Luc Nilis goal put them on track and it seemed plain sailing. Then with 25 minutes to go, Leekens took off Scifo – who could not believe it – and replaced him by Franky Van der Elst. South Korea equalised, Belgium were out of the World Cup and Scifo did not speak to Leekens for the next decade.
When he assumed his duties as team manager in 1997, Leekens had recalled Van der Elst to the national squad at the age of 36. Van der Elst was someone who always played for the team, always obeyed instructions and never sought the limelight. Last year, when Leekens was appointed team manager for his second spell, he recalled Timmy Simons. If there is a player in today’s squad similar to Van der Elst, it is Simons. He is a team player personified and at 34, he joined Nuremberg in the Bundesliga with the express intention of playing regular first-class football and getting back in the national squad. Overlooked by previous coach Dick Advocaat, Simons has not missed a game in the Bundesliga this season for Nuremburg and – it may be a cliché but that doesn’t mean it’s not true – he is probably the first name on Leekens’ team sheet.
Tonight Leekens will be looking to follow-up his victory in Vienna with three more points from the home match with Azerbaijan. The pre-match talk centres on three people: Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Leekens himself. If there are two headline-grabbers in the squad, they are Hazard and Lukaku. Both are seen as targets of the ‘big’ clubs and together they could be seen – in the press – as the future of Belgian football. Leekens is not convinced. Against Austria, he opted for Twente’s Nacer Chadli rather than Hazard; Chadli is certainly the physically stronger of the two – useful against the Austrians – but he’s also a clever player and one for the future. Lukaku was ruled out with a groin strain.
Against Azerbaijan, Leekens is again likely to start without Hazard and Lukaku. The French press did not believe the best player in Ligue 1 could be on the bench for the Belgian national team; they were, to say the least, offended. Whether Hazard will play tonight is uncertain, but Leekens is likely to stick to his guns after Vienna. The case of Lukaku is even stranger. At yesterday’s press conference, Leekens said that Lukaku was fit but was not ready “mentally”. This was immediately denied by Lukaku’s father, who insisted his son was fit and ready to go.
As for the rest of the team, Zenit’s Nicolas Lombaerts will replace the suspended Vincent Kompany and any one of three (Tom De Sutter, Jelle Vossen or Kevin Mirallas) will come in for the injured Marvin Ogunjimi. My money would be on Mirallas, who had 15 minutes against Austria. The rest of the team should be unchanged, unless Leekens decides to rest Steven Defour.
With Belgians just starting to get excited about the “Golden Generation”, the players themselves have to understand that golden individuals are not required, especially if Georges Leekens is at the helm. And apropos of nothing, Enzo Scifo and Eden Hazard were both born in Wallonia, both in La Louviere.