Euro 2016 Preview - Belgium

Team: Belgium

Manager: Marc Wilmots

Group: E

Group Opponents: Sweden, Republic of Ireland & Italy

 

The SQUAD

Belgian Coach Marc Wilmots has named a very attacking squad with Chelsea forward Eden Hazard charged with captaining the side in France in the absence of the highly influential Vincent Kompany through injury. In all, eight forwards have been named in their final 23 with Axel Witsel, Marouane Fellaini and Radja Nainggolan the only recognisable central midfield players in the panel. The most notable absentee is Tottenham Hotspur’s Nacer Chadli.

 

Belgium Squad in Full:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Jean-François Gillet (Mechelen), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool).



Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Jason Denayer (Galatasaray), Laurent Ciman (Montreal), Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Thomas Meunier (Club Brugge), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham).

Midfielders: Marouane Fellaini (Man Utd), Radja Nainggolan (Roma), Axel Witsel (Zenit), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).

Forwards: Moussa Dembélé (Tottenham), Michy Batshuayi (Marseille), Christian Benteke (Liverpool), Yannick Carrasco (Atletico), Romelu Lukaku (Everton), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Divock Origi (Liverpool), Eden Hazard (Chelsea).

 

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Belgium qualified for France in a nonchalant manner, easily finishing top of Group B ahead of Wales, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra, having only lost once. That defeat came against the Welsh in Cardiff as Gareth Bale scored the only goal for Chris Coleman’s side, however, that discounted Belgium has had a very strong campaign where they scored 24 goals and conceded on the five in response. Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne lead the Belgian’s scoring charts in qualification with a personal tally of five goals.



 

KEY PLAYERS

Eden Hazard – The Chelsea man had quite a poor club season by his own high standards having failed to reach double figures and spending large portions of the season either on the sidelines through injury or as a substitute. However, as captain of the national side, he will be expected to provide the leadership in attack and is undoubtedly their most potent attacker when on form.

 

Kevin De Bruyne – Another employee of the Premier League. The Manchester City player had a stellar first season back in English football. His dribbling ability and shooting accuracy are his trade mark and he will be another threat in a star-studded Belgian attack.

 

Radja Nainggolan – The Roma midfielder will be an indispensable component for the Belgians this summer with their attack philosophy. His task will be to shepherd the back four, who too have a tendency to waltz forward to join the attack. His work will be crucial, but due to the fickle nature of football, it will most likely go unnoticed by many, however, his tackling and ball winning ability will start attacks and quench opposition breakaways making him critical to Belgium’s title winning aspirations.

 

Where are they playing and staying:

13th June: Belgium vs Italy, Lyon

18th June: Belgium vs Republic of Ireland, Bordeaux

22nd June: Belgium vs Sweden, Nice

 

Belgium will be based in the Le Plan Medoc area of Bordeaux in Western France.

 

 

THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM

Every one of the Belgian players selected in Marc Wilmots’ squad will be making their debut at the European Championships with Belgium’s last appearance at the tournament being in 2000, when they co-hosted the event along with the Netherlands.

 

Coach Marc Wilmots was part of the last Belgian squad to play at the European Championships 16 years ago.

 

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has scored the most international goals for Belgium out of their entire 23-man squad with 15. Eden Hazard is second having scored 13 times for the country he will captain at this summer’s tournament.

 

THEIR RECENT FORM

Belgium qualified easily for this summer’s tournament by topping their qualification group having sustained only the one defeat the Wales. The current world number two have been solid recently, without reaching the heights that they had been prior, when they managed to climb to the top of Fifa’s world rankings table.

 

They have won three of their last five friendly matches. Italy, Switzerland and Norway have all lost to the Belgians, with a draw coming against Finland and a defeat being against Portugal.

 

However, they have won eight of their last ten competitive matches.

 

First Game:

13th June: Belgium vs Italy, Lyon

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