Belgium World Cup Team Blog » Selection

Brazil Barely Beats Belgium: Nine Men, Ronaldinho, Dunga, and More!

julien — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:59:53 +0000

Men’s Olympic Football commenced yesterday in China. Eight group stage matches were played. In Group C, football giants Brazil faced off against a politically splitting country, Belgium. Belgian supporters got a chance to witness the future of our national team. How does the future look? It isn’t back to the Jean-Marie Pfaff days, but the team will be the best it has been in the last several years. Our young players aren’t prodigies. We are just developing a very solid Rode Duivels squad. Brazil barely beat Belgium in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by a score of 1-0. Our defense was solid and the Young Devils had some nice scoring chances. I wish the Rode Duivels played like our Olympic squad. A good and respectable result for Belgium. However, one wonders if it could have ended differently if we weren’t down to 9 men on the pitch. Yes, you heard right. We finished the match with only 9 players on the field. Belgium played rough defensively for most of the match, which conceded 4 yellow and 2 red cards. Starting line-ups, coaches, and referee:

BELGIUM: Bailly, De Roover, Kompany, Vermaelen, Pocognoli, De Mul, Fellaini, Vertonghen, Martens, Dembele, Mirallas. (subs : Ma-Kalambay, Ciman, Simaeys, Mulemo, Vanden Borre, Haroun, De Smet).
Coach : Jean-François De Sart.

BRAZIL:
Renan, Rafinha, Alex Silva, Breno, Marcelo, Hernanes, Anderson, Lucas, Diego, Ronaldinho, Pato (subs: Diego, Thiago Neves, Ilsinho, Sobis, Jô, Ramirez).
Coach : Dunga
Injuries : Thiago Silva.

Ref: Al Ghambdi (Saudi Arabia).

1st Half
-Maarten Martens is wearing the Belgium captain’s armband.
-Fellaini commits an early foul on Ronaldinho.
-Hernanes (BRA) gets an early yellow card.
-The pace started out very slowly.
-Belgium misses a great scoring chance: A pass from Mirallas to De Mul nearly scored.
-Several early fouls from both sides.
-Brazil is having trouble breaking through the Belgian defense.
-Vincent Kompany gets yellow carded.
-Fellaini misses another scoring opportunity on a downed Renan (BRA) after Renan saved a shot from Mirallas.
-A Ronaldinho free kick flew easily into Bailly’s hands.
-The pace of the match hasn’t been very fluid.
-Rafinha (BRA) receives a harsh foul.
-1st half ends. Choppy half like I said earlier. Sloppy play from both sides. I wish the passing was better. Nevertheless, each team had numerous chances to get on the scoreboard.
-Belgium finished the half with 16 fouls committed.

2nd Half
-Rafinha almost scores in the opening minutes of the period.
-Brazil continues to press and obtain opportunities on goal.
-The Young Devils had very little possession in the opening 10 mins. of the half.
-Ronaldinho keeps setting up key plays.
-Mirallas just misses the goal with a low shot. What an opportunity!
-Substitution for Belgium: De Smet.
-2nd yellow for De Roover! He is ejected from the match! Bad news for Belgium.
-We are down to 10 men for the remaining 18 minutes of the match.
-74′: Brazil and Belgium make several substitutions. Mirallas is off for Simaeys.
-Goal Brazil! 78′: A determined shot and effort from Hernanes. The Belgian defense almost closed him down.
-Oh my…2nd red card for Belgium: Fellaini. Wow! F***. It was his second yellow…9 men currently on the pitch for Belgium.
-5 minutes extra time! Too many for Belgium. de Sart must be so nervous right now.
-93′: Brazil almost scores a second goal, but it was waved offside.
-Final score Brazil 1-0 Belgium.
-Belgium sits at the very bottom of the group with 0 points due to the draw in the China/New Zealand match.

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

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.

Mirallas Will Play In South Korea Friendly

julien — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:53:17 +0000

Belgium olympic coach, Jean-François de Sart, is convinced that Kevin Mirallas will be fit enough to play against South Korea this Saturday. The young Belgians will play their U-20 squad in Seoul. Stijn De Smet is completely healed from his injury. He practiced with the team yesterday whereas Mirallas practiced on his own. De Sart expects Mirallas to rejoin the team in practice on Wednesday. The Belgian’s Wednesday practice consists of fitness and practicing on the field. Things are looking good for Belgium in the Olympics. We come off of a great performance against our tough neighbors, the Netherlands:
“The result is deceiving [0-1 score against the Netherlands]. We analyzed the match and I am satisfied with our 1st half. We played fresh football, but we failed to score. However, besides a small foul by Kompany, we didn’t let our opponents have any scoring chances. Defensively, we were very positive. The 2nd half wasn’t as good for us. Our players weren’t ready physically to play 90 minutes.”
-Jean-François de Sart (Belgium olympic coach).

Hamburger SV Frees Kompany For The Olympics

julien — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:36:05 +0000

Bundesliga’s Hamburger SV has finally let Belgian international Vincent Kompany play for the Olympics. The 22 year old defender is selected for tonight’s friendly against the Netherlands. Then, Kompany returns to Hamburg. He will stay with his club through the Hamburger/Real Madrid match, which is on August 2nd. After the match, he will fly to Pekin to prepare for Belgium’s Olympic journey. The deal that Hamburger reached with Belgium depends on our performance in the Olympics. If we get eliminated in two matches Kompany will return to his club. Belgium plays its first Olympic match on August 7th against Brazil.

Belgium Up Against A Tough Olympic Brazil Squad

julien — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:35:12 +0000

On August 7th, Belgium kicks off against Brazil in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The match will be played in Shenyang with a kickoff time of 17h00. Brazil manager Dunga selected Ronaldinho, Robinho, and Thiago Neves as the three players over 23 years old. The already talented Brazilians just got scarier. They will give the Belgian olympic squad a tough time. I don’t think those young defenders are ready to face Robinho and Ronaldinho. Poor Bailly has to stop shots from Robinho! No one shoots like Robinho in the Belgium Jupiler League. Group C includes Belgium, Brazil, China, and New Zealand. Great! We have to deal with Brazil and a determined China. Today, Jean-François de Sart announced his selection for the tournament:
Name Birth date Club Position
BAILLY Logan 12/27/85 KRC Genk goalkeeper
DE WINTER Yves 5/25/87 KVC Westerlo goalkeeper
MA-KALAMBAY Yves 1/31/86 Hibernians FC (SCO) goalkeeper

CIMAN Laurent 8/5/85 Club Brugge KV defender
DE ROOVER Sepp 11/12/84 FC Groningen (NED) defender
KOMPANY Vincent 4/10/86 Hamburger SV (GER) defender
MULEMO Landry 9/17/86 R. Standard CL defender
POCOGNOLI Sébastien 8/1/87 AZ Alkmaar (NED) defender
VERMAELEN Thomas 11/14/85 Ajax Amsterdam (NED) defender
VERTONGHEN Jan 4/24/87 Ajax Amsterdam (NED) defender

FELLAINI Marouane 11/22/88 R. Standard CL midfielder
HAROUN Faris 9/22/85 KRC Genk midfielder
MARTENS Maarten 7/2/84 AZ Alkmaar (NED) midfielder
ODJIDJA OFOE Vadis 2/21/89 Hamburger SV (GER) midfielder
SIMAEYS Jeroen 5/12/85 Club Brugge KV midfielder
VANDEN BORRE Anthony 10/24/87 Genoa CFC (ITA) midfielder

DEMBELE Moussa 7/16/87 AZ Alkmaar (NED) striker
DE MUL Tom 3/4/86 FC Seville (ESP) striker
DE SMET Stijn 3/27/85 Cercle Brugge KSV striker
LAMAH Roland 12/31/87 RSC Anderlecht striker
MIRALLAS Kevin 10/5/87 Lille OSC (FRA) striker
ROSSINI Giuseppe 8/23/86 Yellow Red KV Mechelen striker

Hamburger SV Won’t Let Kompany Play In The Olympics

julien — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:44:11 +0000

The country vs. club battle continues in football. Hamburger SV won’t let Belgium’s Vincent Kompany play in the Olympics. Their sporting director said:
“We have discussed the situation with Vincent and we mutually decided that the best thing for him is to practice with Hamburger.”

The Belgium FA had this rebuttle:
“We sent a fax to Hamburg calling them to obey the regulations. Currently, we still haven’t received a response back.”

Hamburger SV can’t keep Kompany from an international selection. FIFA does not condone that behavior at all:
“The freeing of under 23 players is still obligatory for all clubs. For the 2008 Pekin Olympic Games the same principle applies.”
-Sepp Blatter

What Hamburger is doing is wrong. Like I said before, club vs. country has always been a heated topic. Club’s spend a lot of money for players and they hate to see them leave for international duty. Fears of injury and fatigue weigh on clubs’ minds. Belgium Olympic football coach Jean-François de Sart will release his selection for the tournament tomorrow.

Mbo Mpenza Selected For Olympic Games

julien — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:33:06 +0000

Belgian youth coach Jean-François de Sart has announced one of his 38 player preselections for the Olympics. Each nation must select 18 players and 4 replacements for the tournament. Surprisingly, Mbo Mpenza was on that list. de Sart had this to say about him:
“We know that each will be very strong on attack. As I make a point of remaining faithful to my philosophy which intends to firstly grant my confidence to the boys that played in the Euro, I chose Émile’s brother rather than Van Buyten or Simons. Mbo, who has value and charisma, has been very enthusiastic with the idea to be a part of the squad and succeed in this competition.”
De Roover, Mudingayi, and Martens are the other players picked by de Sart that are over 23 years old. You can only have 3 players over that age in Olympic football. Goalkeeper Kenny Steppe’s injury means that the team will have to use notorious Logan Bailly instead. Bailly is known for his off the field fighting. Last weekend he was in a fist fight at a concert in Jupille and last May he was in another brawl during Standard’s title celebration. de Sart says that as long as Bailly doesn’t do anything stupid in a Belgium jersey he has no problem with the immature goalkeeper. He reminds me of Stijnen. Here are the other selected players for the Olympics:
BAILLY Logan
CIMAN Laurent
DE MUL Tom
DE ROOVER Sepp
DE SMET Stijn
DEMBELE Moussa
FELLAINI-BAKKIOUI Marouane
HAROUN Faris
KOMPANY Vincent
LAMAH Roland
LEGEAR Jonathan
MA-KALAMBAY Yves
MALKI-SABAH Sanharib
MARTENS Maarten
MIRALLAS Kevin
MULEMO Landry
ODJIDJA-OFOE Vadis
OVERMEIRE Killian
POCOGNOLI Sebastien
ROSSINI Giuseppe
SIMAEYS Jeroen
STEPPE Kenny
VANDELANNOITE Jason
VANDEN BORRE Anthony
VERTONGHEN Jan
WITSEL Axel