Belgium World Cup Team Blog » Milk Cup

Olympics Preview and Milk Cup Recap

julien — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:18:10 +0000

Tomorrow, Belgium kicks off their Olympic Games trip against Brazil. The match starts at 18 H (local time) and will be played at Olympic Stadium in Shenyang. Yesterday, our players had their first official practice there. It was a closed practice. According to Sport.be all of the Young Devils were able to train. Yves De Winter is fully recuperated. Vincent Kompany was the last player to arrive with the Belgium olympic squad. He just arrived Monday at 7:30 (Shenyang time). Belgium’s first match of the competition will be tough. We are up against a Brazil side that has Ronaldinho, Diego, Rafinha, and Alexandre Pato. Sadly, I don’t see us taking any points from this encounter. I predict a score of 3-0 Brazil. de Sart probably isn’t expecting much from the match. We need to focus more on our upcoming matches that we can win against New Zealand and China. New Zealand seems pretty weak, but China could give us problems. They undoubtedly will want to impress their home supporters. China will definitely have a 12 man squad thanks to their home field advantage and patriotic compatriots.

2008 Milk Cup: Since 1983 the Milk Cup has been held annually in Northern Ireland. It is a youth football tournament that has national and club sides. There are three different sections: Elite, Premier, and Junior. The Elite section features just U-19 national teams. Premier and Junior feature club sides but are different ages (U-17 and U-15 respectively). The Elite competition started in 1995. Turkey and Paraguay have won it the most (3 times). Like the Toulon Tournament, it is not under the supervision of a major football governing body such as UEFA or FIFA. This was Belgium’s first Milk Cup appearance.

Belgium sent two different national squads to the event: U-16 and U-19. The Belgium U-19 squad played against Northern Ireland (host) and USA in the tournament and our U-16 only played against Israel. Unfortunately, the Milk Cup official website doesn’t release too many match result details. Brief match summaries:
Monday, July 28, 2008
8.00 pm Belgium 2 v 2 Israel Riada Stadium, Ballymoney

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
8.00 pm N.Ireland 5 v 4 Belgium Showgrounds, Ballymena

NORTHERN IRELAND MILK CUP PLAY-OFFS (Friday, August 1st, 2008)
1.00 pm 3/6th Place 1 USA 2 v 1 Belgium Riada Stadium, Ballymoney

Belgium Ties South Korea

julien — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:38:47 +0000

This Saturday the young devils, Belgium’s olympic squad, faced South Korea’s U-20. The match was a last minute preparation friendly for the upcoming Olympic Games. Tom De Mul score the first goal of the match in the 57′ thanks to a pass from Jeroen Simaeys. Belgium dominated the match and had numerous chances to score. However, the South Korean defense hung on allowing them to get a goal back. Kim Bok Kyung tied the score from a penalty kick. Belgium’s line-up:

Bailly, De Roover (46′ Ciman), Simaeys, Vermaelen , Pocognoli (65′ Mulemo), De Mul (65′ Vanden Borre), Fellaini (46′ Haroun), Vertonghen, Martens, Dembele (46′ De Smet), Mirallas (81′ Odjidja Ofoe).

Tomorrow, I will write about Belgium’s run in this year’s Milk Cup.

Olympic Games Countdown For Belgium: 3 Days!

julien — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:28:23 +0000

Yesterday, Belgium’s olympic squad arrived in Shenyang, China. There they will finish practicing and preparing for their first Olympic Games match against Brazil. The match is this Thursday leaving the young devils three days to prepare. Yves De Winter didn’t practice yesterday since he had the flu. Kevin Mirallas supposedly practiced despite of his knee injury from the South Korea friendly. Today, the Belgians practice from 18 H to 20 H (Chinese time) at the Tiexi Sports Centre. The first 15 minutes of practice will be open to the media. In the upcoming days, I will have a Milk Cup recap and details of the South Korea friendly.

2008 Milk Cup Preview

julien — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:48:02 +0000

Since 1983 the Milk Cup has been held annually in Northern Ireland. It is a youth football tournament that has national and club sides. There are three different sections: Elite, Premier, and Junior. The Elite section features just U-19 national teams. Premier and Junior feature club sides but are different ages (U-17 and U-15 respectively). The Elite competition started in 1995. Turkey and Paraguay have won it the most (3 times). Like the Toulon Tournament, it is not under the supervision of a major football governing body such as UEFA or FIFA. This is Belgium’s first Milk Cup appearance. Belgium’s early fixtures:
July 28th: Belgium vs. Israel (Riada Stadium, Ballymoney)
July 30th: N.Ireland vs. Belgium (Showgrounds, Ballymena)

The last U-19 selection for Belgium:
CORDARO Alessandro
CORSTJENS Wouter
DE MUL Tom
DERIJCK Timothy
GOREUX Réginal
LAMAH Roland
SINAN Bolat
MOIA Massimo
MULEMO Landry
ODJIDJA-OFOE Vadis
POCOGNOLI Sebastien
ROSSINI Giuseppe
STEPPE Kenny
VAN GYSEGHEM Daan
VAN LOO Anthony
VANDELANNOITE Jason
VANDEN BORRE Anthony
YULU-MATONDO Jeanvion