Iceland will have to do without national coach Erik Hamren on the sidelines tomorrow, because together with his entire technical staff he has been quarantined due to 2 positive cases.
“It once again makes it clear that we must do everything we can to avoid contamination,” said national coach Roberto Martinez. “Because now it goes around very quickly. But there is no problem with us.”
“It is a pity that Iceland’s technical staff will be missing, but the UEFA protocol is watertight. That match itself is not in danger.”
What is in danger is the Devils’ first place in the FIFA ranking. With a loss in Iceland and a profit from France, Belgium will lose the lead. “We don’t want to cling to that. What is important is that we can also be at the top in the future. We are mainly concerned with this here.”
The many important absentees (Vertonghen, Eden Hazard, De Bruyne, Mertens, Courtois) will give younger players opportunities again. “This is an opportunity for some to take the role of leader. But that doesn’t mean that our playing style will change.”
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While Roberto Martinez does not want to cling to that 1st place in the FIFA ranking, Axel Witsel attaches a little more value to it. “It is not that we are very busy with it, but we also read it all yesterday. We would like to stay on 1 as long as possible.”
Witsel does complain, just like Kevin De Bruyne earlier, about the unnecessarily heavy program for the internationals. “I don’t understand that one practice match (against Ivory Coast) in particular. Why did we necessarily have to play 3 matches? What’s the point?
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:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/060a64e0-0d6a-11eb-9b6c-0217670beecd.jpg "Giel Beelen with his buttocks bare | Entertainment")
