The World Cup was already in, but our last qualifying match in Wales was still useful. In a swirling stadium it was 1-1, but it was above all a good test for some less experienced Red Devils. De Bruyne scored the goal for the Belgians.
–
With De Ketelaere, Theate, Origi and afterwards also Saelemaekers and Vanzeir it was sometimes a search for automatisms, but this exercise is worth repeating. In fact, there was little at stake during Wales-Belgium. Our country had already received its World Cup ticket and the Welshmen were already certain of the jump-offs. Yet the Cardiff Stadium was a backdrop for a nice stage. The stadium of 32,000 people was sold out.
divide and rule
The Witsel-De Bruyne-Vanaken triangle prevailed in midfield and the Man City player divided et impera, divide and conquer. When the Welsh fans really sat down, De Bruyne thought it was enough. First he missed a volley with the left, after which he apologised, but in the rebound the midfielder blasted into the leather with the right.
That the reddish midfield turned well was not the main goal this evening, however. It was mainly to see how the less experienced Devils would fare in this qualifying mach. In the striker was Divock Origi supported by Charles De Ketelaere. The defense consisted of the trio Castagne, Boyata, Theate. We can be brief about the deep striker. Origi may be 26 years old and playing for Liverpool, but he was clearly not feeling well. The attacker barely made one good move. Then Benteke did better last Saturday.
The rearguard gets a more nuanced judgment. Arthur Theate played fairly uncomplicated on his big debut. He fought hard and tried to play football. Unfortunately, he was sometimes let down by Dedryck Boyata. He already tripped over the ball and sometimes did not act decisively. For example, Belgium swallowed the 1-1. Yes, Theate went wildly wide when Moore scored, but the damage was done when the cross came. At times like these, Theate needs to learn to be a little more judicious, but he deserves another chance.
The result was that the stadium got into higher spheres again. Wales needed a point to finish second and thus have home advantage in the jump-offs. Okay, De Bruyne once again served Thorgan Hazard who hit the potential world goal on the post, but after the break the Belgians slumped away.
Good Casteels
We were going to lose the ball. De Ketelaere also suffered from this from time to time and was replaced. It is clear that these guys are still missing some automatisms. This became even more visible when Martinez brought in other not so established names. Dendoncker was allowed to play in the defence, Saelemaekers was central and Dante Vanzeir was the striker. They couldn’t get much done. On the contrary, it was goalkeeper Koen Casteels who hit the Welsh winning goal out of his net.
After three years, with such matches it becomes more and more difficult for Belgium to remain the number 1 in the Fifa ranking. Last night we almost lost it to Brazil, but the South American country failed to score a goal against Argentina and the game ended 0-0.
We get 21 out of 24 in this World Cup preliminary round and go to Qatar. In the spring we can continue to practice with these less-rugged Devils. Moreover, if the need is high, there is always Kevin De Bruyne. He has the key. King Kev has been involved in 24 goals in their last 19 caps and when he turns, the team is two tiers up.
– .
