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Belgium marvels in the birth of golden generation
Source: Agencies |
September 10, 2012, Monday
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THE players and the coach will not admit it but there is something special about the current Belgian side and they should really be targeting something more than merely qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.
Belgian media and the public are waking up to the fact that they have a potentially golden generation after a dry period of a dozen years without a World Cup or Euro finals presence.
They are, however, hard pressed to explain the abrupt change.
At Belgium's training ground after Friday's opening 2-0 victory over Wales in qualifying Group A, newspaper journalists mostly felt the sudden blossoming of talent was more due to luck than planning, albeit aided by experience gained from playing outside Belgium.
Ten of the 25-strong squad play in the English Premier League, including Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen. Eden Hazard has already lit up Chelsea since his arrival this season.
Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele are recent arrivals at Tottenham Hotspur and Marouane Fellaini is dictating play for Everton. Outside England, Zenit St Petersburg has just bought midfielder Axel Witsel from Benfica for 40 million euros (US$51.27 million).
"I'm not sure any of the players from five to 10 years ago would make it into the side today," said one team official. "Today, you've got to be playing for a big foreign club to make the cut."
Comparisons are already being drawn with the Belgian sides of the 1980s, particularly the 1986 team featuring Jan Ceulemans and Enzo Scifo that reached the semifinals of the World Cup.
"Seven or eight years ago we had no stars. Even compared with the sides of the '80s I think there's more individual talent, with the likes of Hazard, in this team," said Rudy Nuyens, a journalist of Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws, who has been following Belgium since 1986.
"The clubs are working in a much more focused way with youth players, at Anderlecht, at Standard Liege although some of today's group went abroad at early ages," he said.
Hazard joined Lille's youth academy at 14. Vermaelen moved to Ajax Amsterdam at the same age, with Vertonghen following him at 16. Youth is indeed a Belgian asset. The average age of Belgium's starting 11 on Friday was 24.
Belgian media and the public are waking up to the fact that they have a potentially golden generation after a dry period of a dozen years without a World Cup or Euro finals presence.
They are, however, hard pressed to explain the abrupt change.
At Belgium's training ground after Friday's opening 2-0 victory over Wales in qualifying Group A, newspaper journalists mostly felt the sudden blossoming of talent was more due to luck than planning, albeit aided by experience gained from playing outside Belgium.
Ten of the 25-strong squad play in the English Premier League, including Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany and Arsenal skipper Thomas Vermaelen. Eden Hazard has already lit up Chelsea since his arrival this season.
Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele are recent arrivals at Tottenham Hotspur and Marouane Fellaini is dictating play for Everton. Outside England, Zenit St Petersburg has just bought midfielder Axel Witsel from Benfica for 40 million euros (US$51.27 million).
"I'm not sure any of the players from five to 10 years ago would make it into the side today," said one team official. "Today, you've got to be playing for a big foreign club to make the cut."
Comparisons are already being drawn with the Belgian sides of the 1980s, particularly the 1986 team featuring Jan Ceulemans and Enzo Scifo that reached the semifinals of the World Cup.
"Seven or eight years ago we had no stars. Even compared with the sides of the '80s I think there's more individual talent, with the likes of Hazard, in this team," said Rudy Nuyens, a journalist of Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws, who has been following Belgium since 1986.
"The clubs are working in a much more focused way with youth players, at Anderlecht, at Standard Liege although some of today's group went abroad at early ages," he said.
Hazard joined Lille's youth academy at 14. Vermaelen moved to Ajax Amsterdam at the same age, with Vertonghen following him at 16. Youth is indeed a Belgian asset. The average age of Belgium's starting 11 on Friday was 24.
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