There have never been so many Belgians in the Premier League. It’s a boom time but the 2016 Euros are fast approaching and young guns in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain – and even in the Premier League itself – will be battling for a place in Marc Wilmots’ squad. Wilmots has been notoriously loyal… Read More »
As an aside, the first thing we learned is that I should stop forecasting. OK, I said it would be a draw but I felt there would be goals. End result: nine shots on target – the total from both teams. Apart from that, what struck me early on in the game was that Eden… Read More »
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 »
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 »
The Jupiler Pro League ended on Saturday night and the playoffs will start at the end of the month. I don’t always approve of Milan Jovanovic’s comments as he tends to ‘talk the talk’ a little too much; however he was spot on when he said that he hated the playoff system. The Serb added… Read More »
It’s been a typical week in the world of Belgian football, both on and off the field. There’s been lots of talk about red cards and suspensions, one player who wants to be a ‘Red Devil’, another who seems a little unsure about his future and another who is seen as a saviour for his… 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 »
It’s just over halfway through the season proper in the Jupiler Pro League but as the ‘end-of-season playoffs’ count for 40% of points overall (points gained by the end of the classic season are divided by two), we’re just getting started in Belgium. No one likes the current system and this is probably the last… Read More »
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 »
After two matches, Belgium are level on points with Croatia and Serbia at the top of the World Cup qualifying group. They had hoped for two victories – Wales in Cardiff, Croatia in Brussels – but it was not to be. A defensive error against Croatia, one that was almost repeated later in the game,… Read More »