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 Welcome to the Belgium thread for Euro 2016. Belgium has a history at the Euros, making four previous appearances in 1972 (when they hosted), 1980, 1984, and 2000 (when they co-hosted). As you can see, they haven't qualified for a Euro tournament in 16 years. They also didn't qualify for any World Cups between 2002 and 2014, so this is a team coming out of quite a dry spell of letting down their fans and failing to perform when it counts. At the 2014 World Cup, Belgium made it to the quarterfinals (defeating the USA 2-1 in extra time in the round of 16) before losing to eventual finalists Argentina. It's a little surprising, then, that Belgium are suddenly seen as one of the best teams in the world. They were ranked first in the FIFA rankings for most of this year (they've since slipped to second) and are one of the favourites to win the tournament in France this summer. This is mostly because Belgium have a ridiculously talented young team. Player for player, across the 23-man squad, there may not be a better team in the tournament. The question is whether Belgium can make a good team out of their talented individuals. QUALIFICATION  Belgium qualified for the finals with a game to spare, and their only loss came in a 1-0 away loss to Wales. One of the impressive things about Belgium's qualification campaign was how they spread their goals around the team. Ten Belgian players scored goals in their ten qualification matches, showing that Belgium is certainly not a team that relies on any one individual performer. Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard led the way with five goals each. THE GROUP  (Cue Belgium fans hilariously asking if they can end the group stage right now)    Belgium were unlucky enough to draw one of the harder groups at this year's Euros, featuring both 2012 finalists Italy and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Friends. That being said, Italy are poo poo this year and Belgium will be expected to finish top of their group. THE MANAGER   Marc Wilmots is the Belgian manager, previously the Belgian assistant manager. He served as assistant under Dick Advocaat and Georges Leekens before taking over the real job in 2012. He since oversaw qualification for the World Cup, Belgium's quarterfinal performance there, and now qualification for this tournament as well. Wilmots has tried to downplay expectations by pointing out Belgium's many defensive injuries and saying he thinks either Spain, Germany, or France will win the tournament and Belgium are outsiders. I've also been instructed by one of our resident Belges to tell you that he's a fraud, so make of that what you will. Fun Fact: Wilmots was elected as a Senator in the 2003 Belgian elections. He tried to manage a football club and be a senator at the same time and ended up failing at both, getting sacked by the football club after ten months in charge and resigning as a senator after a year and a half. Well done, Marc! THE SQUAD Goalkeepers:   Thibaut Courtois (24, Chelsea) is Belgium's first choice goalkeeper and one of the best young goalkeepers in the world. That being said, he didn't have a great season with Chelsea this past year. Still, considering his competition there is virtually no chance of him losing his spot unless he gets injured or sent off for punching a referee. 35 caps.  Simon Mignolet (28, Liverpool) is Belgium's second choice and used to be the first choice until Courtois came of age. He got pretty salty about being replaced but seems to have gotten over it now that everyone realizes he's actually not that good. A good shot stopper but terrible at commanding his area, communicating with his defence, or claiming crosses. 17 caps. Fun Fact: Simon Mignolet has a degree in political science from the Catholic University of Leuven.  Jean-François Gillet (37, Catania) is Belgium's third choice and probably won't play a single minute so who cares about him. He's considered the team jester and is good for morale though. Fun Fact: Gillet was suspended from the 2014 World Cup for being involved in a match-fixing scandal in Italy! Defenders: Belgium are missing quite a few players through injury. Most notable is their captain and starting central defender Vincent Kompany, but other missing names include Dedryck Boyata, Bjorn Engels, and Nicolas Lombaerts. Kompany will be a big loss. Even though he was in pretty bad form this season for Manchester City, he's still one of the world's best central defenders when on his game, and a leader on the pitch.  Toby Alderweireld (27, Tottenham Hotspur) is a very good defender who was part of the best defence in the Premier League this past season (until the last day lmao). He usually plays at right back for his country, but with Kompany out injured he just might be switched to the centre. 53 caps, 1 goal.  Thomas Meunier (24, Club Brugge) is a winger turned into a right back who's a good attacking threat but not as good defensively. Belgium's backup right back behind Alderweireld. Wants to play for Manchester United some day, the shithead. 5 caps, 0 goals. Fun Fact: Meunier started out as an amateur working part-time in his local supermarket before being signed by Club Brugge in 2011.  Christian Kabasele (25, Genk) is a central defender born in Zaire who has never played for Belgium's senior team. Called up because of Belgium's defensive injuries, he might not even play if the first choice players can stay fit and in form, but is along for the ride. 0 caps. Fun Fact: That picture is the first Google Image result for Christian Kabasele.  Laurent Ciman (30, Montreal Impact) is another backup defender, hailing all the way from Canada. Yeah, I can't believe it either, the "best squad in the tournament" has a loving MLS player from Canada in it, but this is what Belgium have been forced into by injuries. Won MLS's defender of the year award in 2015 after joining Montreal, so hahahahahaha. 10 caps.  Jason Denayer (20, Manchester City) is a young centre back seen as the future replacement for Vincent Kompany. He can play across the backline, making him an effective backup. 5 caps. Fun Fact: Despite being registered with Manchester City, Denayer has never played a single game for them, spending the last two seasons on loan at Celtic and Galatasaray.  Despite looking a bit like Jude Law if you squint a bit and are also blind, Thomas Vermaelen (30, Barcelona) is bad. He is a bad player. He used to play for Arsenal, where he was exposed as a bad defender who was decent on the ball but couldn't hold a line to save his life. Then he signed for Barcelona, where thanks to injuries he played a grand total of one (1) game last season. This season he was a little luckier, managing a whole 506 minutes of play in La Liga, making him unlikely to be first choice this summer. 52 caps, 1 goal.  Jordan Lukaku (21, Oostende), younger brother of Romelu, is a fast attacking left back. Usually the backup to Jan Vertonghen in that position, we'll see if Vertonghen gets moved to the centre thanks to all those injuries, which would probably make Lukaku the starter. 3 caps, 0 goals.  Jan Vertonghen (29, Tottenham Hotspur) is a good defender, the other half of Belgium's Spurs defence. Plays centre back for club but usually deployed at left back for his country. Don't be surprised to see him moved to the centre thanks to all those injuries. Also one of the most experienced players in this Belgium squad. 75 caps, 6 goals. Midfielders:  Axel Witsel (27, Zenit St. Petersburg) is a quite good holding midfielder who would probably be a lot more famous if he hadn't chosen to spend the prime of his career in Russia. Criticized in Belgium for slowing the game down too much, expect him to start every game anyway. 65 caps, 6 goals. Fun Fact: Is best friends with Spurs winger Nacer Chadli, who didn't make the squad.  Radja Nainggolan (28, Roma) is a box-to-box midfielder whose reputation has grown a hell of a lot over the past few years. He missed out on Belgium's 2014 World Cup squad but is suddenly seen as one of Europe's best midfielders after raising his game under Rudi Garcia at Roma. Continually linked with big money moves to other clubs, we'll see if his performances this summer make his star rise even more. 18 caps, 4 goals.  Marouane Fellaini (28, Manchester United) is a weird player. He started out at defensive midfield at Everton but at Manchester United has often been deployed in a more attacking role. Bad at a lot of football activities like dribbling, he's good with his head and seems to have a magnet for trapping the ball on his chest. Once dispossed Craig Bellamy with a Zidane Roulette. 68 caps, 15 goals. Fun Fact: Fellaini's 15 goals make him the current top goalscorer in Belgium's squad.  Moussa Dembele (28, Tottenham Hotsput) is a really pretty great midfielder who would be a nailed-on starter for almost any other team but getting into this Belgium midfield is more difficult. Never really performs that well for his country but just enjoyed a very good season with Spurs so maybe this will be his moment. 64 caps, 5 goals.  Kevin De Bruyne (24, Manchester City), what a player. He'll play pretty much any attacking position and excel there, and he was one of the brightest spots in a relatively lacklustre Manchester City season this past year. KDB is also the most popular player in the Flemish half of Belgium and has his own clothing line. In the words of one of our very own Belges, "KDB owns". 39 caps, 13 goals.  Eden Hazard (25, Chelsea) is a player of contrasts. Sometimes he runs riot on everybody, scores goals for fun, and nutmegs half the defence on the way to his latest blinder. Sometimes he turns invisible, sulks, and gets taken off after 60 minutes. Had an awful season with Chelsea until the last 4 games, when he scored 4 goals and seemed to be back to his old self. He's been handed the captain's armband in the absence of Kompany, so Wilmots will be hoping that this added leadership role will bring out the best in him. 63 caps, 12 goals. Fun Fact: Hazard is insanely goony, has a neckbeard, watches anime, and plays Football Manager. Probably posts in TRP too, come to think of it. Eden, if you're out there, let us know.  Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco (22, Atletico Madrid) is a player on the rise, and I'm not just talking about that haircut. A young winger who could represent Belgium for another decade, he's most recently notable for scoring Atletico's equalizer in the Champions League final, rounding off an impressive season. Not guaranteed to start but definitely one for the future. 4 caps, 0 goals.  Dries Mertens (29, Napoli) is another winger who's one of Belgium's most underrated, fly-under-the-radar players (when it comes to international attention, at least). One of Wilmots' preferred starters, he's quick and currently stars in Napoli's very good attack. He's also played with KDB in the past, which helps them both out. Once injured Gary Cahill and ruled him out of Euro 2012, so well done Dries. 44 caps, 8 goals. Forwards:  Romelu Lukaku (23, Everton) is still only 23 somehow despite already seeming like he's been around forever. Started out scoring for fun in youth sides and the Belgian league, he moved to Chelsea where he had a torrid time, never playing and never scoring. Loans to West Brom and Everton revitalized his career and he's been getting better all the time, recently scoring 25 goals in all competitions for Everton in a season when the team as a whole struggled. That being said, most of those goals were frontloaded and he had a terrible second half of the season so he's still not guaranteed the first-choice spot and Wilmots has preferred Origi to him in the past. 43 caps, 11 goals.  Christian Benteke (25, Liverpool) is an unfortunate striker. He singlehandedly kept Aston Villa up for three seasons and earned himself a big-money move to Liverpool, only to find that he didn't fit into the tactics of either then-manager Brendan Rodgers or current manager Jurgen Klopp. Missed the last World Cup through injury and isn't expected to start in France, but could be an effective squad player. 25 caps, 6 goals.  Michy Batshuayi (22, Marseille) is yet another talented young Belge on the rise, this time in France. Fantastic club goalscoring record, both for Marseille and his previous club, Standard Liege, he could be a star of the future. 4 caps, 2 goals.  Divock Origi (21, Liverpool) rounds out the squad as a talented young striker who's developing well under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Starred in Belgium's run at the 2014 World Cup, which earned him a move to Liverpool via a year on loan in France. He was named in France's "Worst team of the season" that year but has shown some signs of great promise in the latter stages of this season at Liverpool. Can play anywhere across the frontline and his versatility is one of his strengths. 17 caps, 3 goals. Fun Fact: Divock Origi had a dolphin named after him when he scored against Russia in Brazil. So that's the Belgian team. A ridiculously talented midfield and solid young strike force that could be undermined by a weakened defence. Sounds like a recipe for fun matches this summer. Expect to see Belgium get into the later knockout stages. Anything less than a quarterfinal would be underperforming, and if they click this time around it wouldn't be surprising to see them go all the way. You can be that guy who tells all your friends that you knew about Michy Batshuayi back when they were still asking "Is Belgium even a country or just the place where all my EU taxes go?". So chill out, enjoy some waffles and Belgian beer, and enjoy the show. And besides all that, even if Belgium go crashing out of the tournament losing every game 10-0, they still will have performed better than the Netherlands. 
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Jun 2, 2016 15:33
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:27 |
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peanut- posted:They've got the best squad in the tournament and will go out in the first knock-out round. This is more or less my feeling. I don't know if even that crazy talented squad can overcome Belgium's predilection for bottling it.
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Jun 2, 2016 15:44
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Spangly A posted:I heard about the Finland game but didn't see it, is Wilmots still playing the best CB pairing in England as fullbacks? Looks like he started Denayer and Vermaelen at centre back against Finland, so yeah. e: I just watched the highlights of the Finland game. A few things: 1) Finland's goal was their first goal of 2016 2) Vermaelen is a bad defender and should not be starting 3) Almost all of Belgium's chances came from crosses by either Alderweireld or Vertonghen... so why the hell not put them in the centre and let the more attacking full backs play, since they'll probably be better at attacking and crossing the ball than two centre backs? 4) The midfield didn't seem to be creating much through the centre, though this could be down to Finland playing defensively--still, a midfield that talented should be able to break down a tough defence and they couldn't. Therefore... 5) Wilmots is a fraud. vyelkin fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Jun 4, 2016 |
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Jun 4, 2016 14:34
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lmao Belgium
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Jun 5, 2016 19:18
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Belgium plays Italy tomorrow. In theory this is a big match that will decide who finishes top of the group. In practice it will be an awful game and probably the tournament's first 0-0 draw as Italy's ineffectual attack fails to score against Belgium's makeshift defence and Belgium's fraudulently poor attacking formation fails to make inroads against Juventus's good defenders.
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Jun 13, 2016 00:04
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Courtois, Ciman, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Witsel, Nainggolan, Fellaini, De Bruyne, Hazard, R. Lukaku Vermaelen starting an actual competitive match alongside an MLS defender, Vertonghen and Alderweireld shunted out to the flanks again, gj Wilmots
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Jun 13, 2016 19:21
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Pundits are catching on to Wilmots being a dumb fraud https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jun/17/belgium-marc-wilmots-euro-2016-defeat-italy-golden-generation
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Jun 17, 2016 13:55
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Wilmots.... in? No but seriously there were some positive changes here. Meunier was a huge upgrade at right back, Dembele I thought was impressive in midfield until his injury (and Nainggolan was pretty anonymous after coming on), and just getting Fellaini off the pitch was a huge improvement even if Carrasco didn't do much. The team actually looked like it knew how to build an attack. Significant improvement. Admittedly it was against Ireland and I'm skeptical if this level of play will hold up against better sides but I thought the personnel changes at least were a step forward.
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Jun 18, 2016 15:55
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gj today Belges, glad to have met my OP prediction of at least reaching the quarterfinal
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Jun 26, 2016 22:16
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:27 |
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rip belge
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Jul 1, 2016 21:51
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