International friendlies were on the agenda last week and it’s hard for players, clubs or fans to get too excited for such matches. Belgium faced Slovakia on Wednesday but a more interesting fixture took place in Mechelen on the previous night when the Belgium U21 side faced Spain. The Belgian youngsters drew an entertaining game… Read More »
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 »
It’s been a busy old week in Belgium football. The latest Red Devils squad was announced, the transfer window closed with a whimper and the famed Clasico closed the week with a few of its own brand of fireworks. For me the highlight of the week was a good news story; the return of Anthony… Read More »
Two of the biggest games of the season in Belgium – ignoring the playoffs – are the clashes between Anderlecht and Standard Liege, known as the Clasicos. The next one takes place on Sunday and despite the game’s attraction, Anderlecht’s ‘Golden Boot’ winner Dieumerci Mbokani decided not the get a plane back from the African… Read More »
And so it came to pass that Mbokani did win, ahead of Vossen and Proto. Tonight sees the award of the 59th Gouden Schoen / Soulier d’Or for 2012. The votes will be cast by journalists, coaches and past winners with the victor being chosen based on performances over a calendar year rather than on… Read More »
This weekend sees two Belgian centre-forwards meeting up in a Midlands derby. It’s probably the first time this has happened and it’s fair to say that 12 months ago, neither Romelu Lukaku nor Christian Benteke would have been expecting to be playing at the Hawthorns this weekend. Lukaku was 16 when I first saw him… Read More »
Belgian football starts up again after the winter break tonight. It’s Cofidis Cup time with the return legs of the quarter finals. The top match is Anderlecht vs. Gent, where the score was 1-1 in the first leg. Anderlecht will be without several first choices: Dieumerci Mbokani (CAN), Guillaume Gillet (suspension), Cheikhou Kouyaté (minor operation)… Read More »
The Jupiler Pro League has lost some top performers in the past two years (Courtois, De Bruyne, Witsel, Defour, etc.) but there are always new faces coming through. It’s far too soon for Anderlecht to cash in on the likes of Dennis Praet but there are players who have either served their time or who… Read More »
The current crazy playoff system in the Jupiler Pro League means that the top six play off in mini-league, with a starting point of half the points they gained in the classic season. It was introduced to keep the excitement going to the end of the season and to hopefully increase gate receipts for the… Read More »
About one year ago, I wrote that the Cofidis Cup was dying on its feet. Tonight see the first leg of the quarter finals and the patient is hardly in better health. The fans are not showing any great interest in the competition and several pundits are calling for changes. The current setup certainly favours… Read More »