Tag Archives: Witsel

Brussels – setting for a game of Devils and Dragons

Belgium face Wales on Sunday and you’d expect an air of confidence about a team placed fourth in the FIFA rankings facing one in 34th position. But it’s not quite like that. Although Marc Wilmots’ men defeated Iceland 3-1 on Wednesday, both the coach and the performance were heavily criticised. Wilmots rested several players (most… Read More »

Wilmots’ options for Brazil

On May 13, Marc Wilmots will announce his ‘pre-selection’ of players who could go to Brazil. The final squad of 23 will be divulged to the public on June 2. Prior to the final group being announced, Belgium will play two friendlies, against Luxembourg and Sweden. After the announcement, Belgium will play Tunisia on June… Read More »

Time for Team Belgium to deliver

Belgium go into back-to-back matches with Macedonia and the country expects. The exploits of the 10 Belgians in the Premier League have not gone unnoticed – just the opposite in fact. The Saturday night football programmes tend to start with ‘Belgians abroad’ before turning to the domestic fare. The stadium will be packed on Tuesday… Read More »

Red Devils: Will Big Mo make the cut?

Back in September, I wrote a piece on the blog that looked at Marc Wilmots’ embarrassment of riches in midfield. I reasoned that he had eight candidates for the five places – for argument’s sake let’s assume that the Belgian team lines up in a 4-5-1 formation. At the time I wrote that “De Bruyne… Read More »

Belgian ‘Clasico’ goes double Dutch

The Standard-Anderlecht clash at Sclessin today brings together Ron Jans and John Van den Brom, two of the five Dutch coaches in the Belgian first division. The coaches at two of the country’s leading clubs have had differing fortunes in their first couple of months in Belgium. Jans has certainly shown himself to be the… Read More »

World Cup qualifiers – Red Devils’ report cards

Marc Wilmots used 15 players in the games with Wales and Croatia. Here’s my view of how the players fared in the two matches. Thibaut Courtois: Hardly tested in the two matches; made important saves and interventions when necessary. He’s there to stay. Guillaume Gillet: Superbly taken goal against Croatia but he’s not a full… Read More »

Belgium must get serious on the road to Rio

Tonight Belgium play their most important game since they reached the World Cup finals in 2002. With one of the most valuable squads in world football and their players seemingly dominating the ubiquitous Premier League, it’s time for Belgium to show that they can become a leading football nation. Belgium have not qualified for a… Read More »