Euro 2008 Qualifying Stats: Played in 3 matches (2 starts and 1 substitution).

In 2007, he played in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for Belgium. There Lombaerts captained the young Belgians through 4 matches and led them to the semi-finals. Belgium had a great tournament. They made it out of a tough group with the Netherlands, Portugal and Israel. Then the Belgium U-21 lost in the semi-finals 0-2 against Serbia. Lombaerts’ performance and form attracted Zenit St. Petersburg. He soon signed a four year contract with the Russian powerhouse. It is one of the richest clubs in Russia. Nicolas Lombaerts is currently part of Zenit St. Petersburg’s starting 11. Zenit St. Petersburg won last season’s UEFA Cup and Russian Premier League.

Club Stats With Zenit St. Petersburg :
Season Tournament MatchesPlayed Starts Goals Assts YCards RCards
2007 Premier Division 13 13 2 0 2 0
2007/2008 Russian Cup 2 0 0 0 1 0
2007/2008 UEFA Cup 9 9 0 1 0 1

Recent Rode Duivels Selections:
30/03/2005 San Marino 1-2 Belgium
04/06/2005 Serbia and Montenegro 0-0 Belgium
17/08/2005 Belgium 2-0 Greece
03/09/2005 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 Belgium
07/09/2005 Belgium 8-0 San Marino
08/10/2005 Belgium 0-2 Spain
16/08/2006 Belgium 0-0 Kazakhstan
06/09/2006 Armenia 0-1 Belgium
07/10/2006 Serbia 1-0 Belgium
11/10/2006 Belgium 3-0 Azerbaijan
15/11/2006 Belgium 0-1 Poland
07/02/2007 Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic
24/03/2007 Portugal 4-0 Belgium
12/09/2007 Kazakhstan 2-2 Belgium
13/10/2007 Belgium 0-0 Finland
17/10/2007 Belgium 3-0 Armenia
17/11/2007 Poland 2-0 Belgium
21/11/2007 Azerbaijan 0-1 Belgium
26/03/2008 Belgium 1-4 Morocco
30/5/2008 Italy 3-1 Belgium

Euro 2008 Qualifying Stats: 10 matches played with 1 goal.

Daniel Van Buyten is a unique defender in that he can play tight defense and score. One of his nicknames is even Van Buteur (Van Scorer!) from the 10 goals that he scored with Marseille one season. He won the French Ligue 1 best player award during his second season with Olympique de Marseille. Van Buyten says his most memorable match with Belgium was his second match with the Rode Duivels against Scotland. He scored a valuable goal during that match sending Belgium to the 2002 World Cup. He doesn’t just love the beautiful game. Van Buyten says his other passion is fishing. According to his official fansite (yes he actually has one!) he also likes his family, sports in general, chocolate, Marseille, and RnB/Soul music. His dislikes include Brussels sprouts, and hypocrisy. Weird guy right? His reminds me of Frankenstein.

Rode Duivels Selections:
11/05/2006 Saudi Arabia 1-2 Belgium
20/05/2006 Slovakia 1-1 Belgium
24/05/2006 Belgium 3-3 Turkey
16/08/2006 Belgium 0-0 Kazakhstan
06/09/2006 Armenia 0-1 Belgium
07/10/2006 Serbia 1-0 Belgium
11/10/2006 Belgium 3-0 Azerbaijan
15/11/2006 Belgium 0-1 Poland
07/02/2007 Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic
24/03/2007 Portugal 4-0 Belgium
02/06/2007 Belgium 1-2 Portugal
06/06/2007 Finland 2-0 Belgium
22/08/2007 Belgium 3-2 Serbia
12/09/2007 Kazakhstan 2-2 Belgium
13/10/2007 Belgium 0-0 Finland
17/10/2007 Belgium 3-0 Armenia
17/11/2007 Poland 2-0 Belgium
26/03/2008 Belgium 1-4 Morocco
30/5/2008 Italy 3-1 Belgium

Euro 2008 Qualifying Stats: 50 saves in 13 matches with no clean sheets.

Since late 2006, Stijn Stijnen has been René Vandereycken’s top goalkeeper. He plays decently in goal. When I think of him I can’t help but laugh and feel some disappointment. I don’t like how he represents Belgium. His sportsmanship is questionable considering his past comments. Before the Rode Duivels’ Euro 2008 qualifying match against Portugal he openly condoned injuring Cristiano Ronaldo: “After two minutes we will normally have massacred him so much that he will have to leave the pitch on a stretcher. What else do we need to do? Portugal have greater quality and that’s why we have to do things our way. If we try to play like them we will certainly lose.” These were strong and disturbing comments from the Rode Duivels keeper. That type of mentality is bad for the national team. Hurting the other team’s players to win shows no class and is really low. In some ways it is similar to Zidane’s stupid headbutt on Materazzi. Instead of continuing the match and playing for a win he let the anger get the better of him. Wait till the end of the match to kick Materazzi’s ass. Why let your whole country down? Anyway, we ended up losing that Portugal qualifying match badly 0 to 4. Did we deserve it? Yes. Stijnen’s behavior was unexcusable and we should have played better. Belgium fan or not I can’t support his actions. FIFA fined Stijnen 2000 euros for his comments. Furthermore, several days before that same match he refused to speak to the French speaking Belgian media. Political tensions have always been high in Belgium among the Dutch and French speakers. Stijnen, of course, added fuel to the fire.