Read Paul MacInnes’ match report
Belgium will console themselves as always after a defeat, by rising one spot in the FIFA rankings
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) June 17, 2024
Next up: Austria v France, Ralf Rangnick v Didier Deschamps. Join Michael Butler for all the build up.
“Belgium,” says Niall Mullen, “are hardly the first golden generation to turn into a golden shower.”
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Ivan Schranz’s smart early volley, which stemmed from a mistake by Jeremy Doku, settled a fascinating game in Frankfurt. Belgium’s performance was erratic but they could still have won the game. Romelu Lukaku missed some good chances in the first half and had two goals ruled out by VAR in the second. The second, given for handball against Lois Openda in the build-up, is already dividing the soccerocracy.
Even so, Slovakia played some lovely, resourceful football, defended like true patriots and had chances to extend their lead. It certainly wasn’t a smash and grab.
Full time: Belgium 0-1 Slovakia
The first shock of Euro 2024 is complete. Slovakia are 48th in the world rankings, between Norway and Canada, but they played superbly to inflict Belgium’s first defeat since the last World Cup.
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90+6 min Belgium are running out of time, hope and ideas.
90+5 min “Am I the first to use SloVARkia?” honks Richard Slassor. “I’m here all week. Try the bryndzové halušky.”
90+4 min: Slovakia substitution Adam Obert is on for Ondrej Duda, whose bolt hath been shot.
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90+4 min De Bruyne surges from centre to right, into the area, and angles a trademark low cross shot. It takes a crucial deflection and is held by the falling Dubravka.
90+3 min “God, VAR is joyous isn’t it,” says Niall Mullen. “How did we ever enjoy football before it?”
90+2 min The format is very forgiving, with 16 teams going through to the second round, so Belgium should be okay. But not winning the group would likely mean a tougher game in the last 16. The runner-up in this group, for example, will play the runner-up in France/Netherlands/Austria/Poland’s group.
90 min Belgium have seven minutes of added time in which to equalise.
89 min “Nice to see the Napoli midfielder Lobotka shine for Slovakia,” says Colum Fordham. “He was one of the crucial elements of Napoli’s serie A winning side a year ago and has continued to perform well, despite the mixed fortunes of the club this year.
“Also the Slovakia manager Calzona was simultaneously Napoli coach and Slovakia coach for the last three months until Antonio Conte was appointed a fortnight ago. Slovakia’s inspirational midfielder Hamsik (now retired) was also a Napoli stalwart.”
NO GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Slovakia
The referee is asked to go to the monitor, which shows him that the ball brushed Openda’s fingers before he got away from the defender. His arm was outstretched so I guess that’s fair enough, even if it wasn’t deliberate.
Another Lukaku equaliser is disallowed by VAR ❌
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2024
Slovakia so close to an upset here 👀#Euro2024 | #BELSVK pic.twitter.com/CIe2KO6EoL
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Another VAR review! This time it’s for a possible handball by Openda.
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Romelu Lukaku has finally booted the door down! The goal was made superbly by the substitute Openda, who scooted to the byline on the left and angled a cutback towards the penalty spot. Lukaku watched the ball onto his left foot and slammed a sidefooted shot past Dubravka.
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GOAL! Belgium 1-1 Slovakia (Lukaku 86)
If at first you don’t succeed…
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86 min “Even if they don’t hold out for a win, I’ve been really impressed by the Slovaks,” says Kári Tulinius “I thought they’d start dropping deep, especially once Haraslin and Bozenik went off, but Strelec and Suslov have been just as good. This is a better squad than I thought.”
They look very well coached, too, in a way that I can’t quite articulate. There’s a neat precision about their passing and movement that reminds me ever so slightly of Pochettino’s Spurs at their best.
85 min Lukebakio’s first contribution is a tackle on Hancko for which he is booked. I think he got the ball but he followed through onto Hancko’s foot.
84 min: Double substitution for Belgium Lois Openda and Dodi Lukebakio are on for Jeremy Doku, who had his moments but also created the only goal, and Yannick Carrasco.
82 min “My sense of playing out from the back is that it’s become so much a matter of ‘proper football’ orthodoxy that some have forgotten what it’s actually good for,” says Peter Mulloy. “In essence, isn’t it just the best/safest way to progress the ball up the pitch when you have mainly diminutive, technical players in midfield and up front? If that’s your squad’s profile, then sure learning to play out makes sense.
“If, on the other hand, you have a centre forward who is fairly reliable at winning long balls and holding them up, and explosive players around who can feed off knockdowns, it’s almost playing against those strengths to insist on building from the back. Especially if your midfield isn’t set up for patient ball progression. In the end, it’s just a question of the most effective tactic for turning defence into attack given the players at your disposal. I don’t see any reason why you can’t set up teams of high quality players for long balls if that utilises some of their best traits and minimises some weaknesses.
“And by the way - striker with good hold up play, explosive players around him, slightly dodgy midfield… dare I suggest that this sounds a bit like England?”
Also, we don’t need Terence Lawson to tell us that, when it comes to tactics, variety is the spice of life. One of the most interesting things about the Klopp/Guardiola rivalry has been the contrast in styles.
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81 min: Slovakia substitution David Duris comes on for the goalscorer Ivan Schranz.
80 min Carrasco’s shot is blocked and spins behind for another Belgium corner. It’s swung out and headed off target by Onana, 12 yards out.
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78 min A bit of respite for Slovakia, who eat up around 90 seconds in the Belgium half before Kucka slices well wide from distance. They have played so well.
77 min Schranz crosses low towards Strelec, who flicks a shot behind his front leg at the near post. It hits a defender, Debast I think, and dribbles behind for a corner.
76 min Tielemans is booked for a well-intentioned but inept tackle on Suslov.
74 min: Belgium substitution Youri Tielemans replaces Leandro Trossard, which will allow allow De Bruyne to move further forward again. Total waste of time him playing as a No6 when you’re 1-0 down.
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73 min Defeat wouldn’t be terminal for Belgium, far from it, but it would impact their already fragile confidence. A win for Slovakia would be their best result since, when, 2010?
72 min Lobotka makes a strong and vital block tackle on Doku just inside the penalty area. He’s another one who has had a superb game.
70 min: Double substution for Slovakia De Bruyne is playing very deep, almost like David Beckham in his quarterback phase, which feels like a waste of his ability. Meanwhile, Slovakia bring on David Strelec and Tomas Suslov for Robert Bozenik and Lukas Haraslin. Both were excellent, especially Haraslin, and both looked shattered.
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67 min De Bruyne whips a first-time cross/shot that is blocked on the edge of the area. Belgium are playing with a desperate intensity and look likely to equalise any minute now.
65 min “It strikes me that Lukaku is living an extended version of Andy Cole’s first couple of years at United,” says Patrick O’Brien. “His numbers show he’s obviously a good player but I wonder how such a good player and his country’s record scorer, can look so inept at times. Some of his misses are inexplicable. Add to that, when his luck goes, it really goes.”
Thank goodness the internet wasn’t around during Andy Cole’s rough spell. Even somebody with his extraordinary mental strength might have been broken.
Hancko clears off the line!
62 min Doku’s dangerous cross is pushed away by the diving Dubravka. Bakayoko drives the rebound towards goal and Hancko – a member of Roy Keane’s Smell the Danger Club – clears heroically off the line.
Hancko stays down in the goal, and the referee eventually stops play. There are boos but replays show it was legitimate – Hancko was accidentally kneed in the face by Vavro after making the clearance.
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61 min Doku skips past Pekarik and drives a dangerous cross that is booted behind. The resulting corner leads to a half chance for Carrasco, whose volley is blocked. Then Slovakia break with a man over, only for Lobotka to underhit his pass, and then Lukaku volleys into the side netting from a tight angle. All that in the space of around 30 seconds.
60 min “I’ve never been sure where this ‘Belgium potential’ originated (Premier League players perhaps) but they never struck me as an impressive side,” says Billy Graboso. “There hasn’t been one tournament where I could say they were the best or missed an opportunity. Their half of the draw opened up kindly after finishing behind Italy at Euro 2016 but lost to Wales. For his country De Bruyne has never been the kind to take the game by the scruff of the neck, same with Hazard at his best. Ultimately they neither underachieved nor overachieved.”
That’s essentially how I feel. De Bruyne had his moments, particularly the goal against Brazil, but his body language sometimes screams ‘Look what I have to work with’.
59 min: Good save by Dubravka! Trossard runs onto a god flick from Lukaku and cracks a low shot from 20 yards. Dubravka gets down smartly to his left to push it away.
Belgium are still behind but they have at least woken up.
58 min: Belgium substitution Johan Bakayoko is for Orel Mangala, which means De Bruyne will deeper and Trossard will support Lukaku.
NO GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Slovakia
Lukaku was fractionally offside. He must wonder what the hell the universe has against him.
Belgium thought they'd equalised... only for it to be called offside... ❌#Euro2024 | #BELSVK pic.twitter.com/eYcqUhGflw
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2024
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Romelu Lukaku scores his 86th goal for Belgium. De Bruyne took a short corner to Trossard, who curled a lovely ball towards Onana at the far post. He headed it back across the six-yard box and Lukaku tapped into the empty net.
There’s a VAR check for offside though. It’s tight.
GOAL! Belgium 1-1 Slovakia (Lukaku 56)
If at first you don’t succeed…
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56 min Trossard feeds Lukaku, who makes enough room to rattle a shot that is pushed round the near post by Dubravka. Good effort and a good save.
53 min Belgium haven’t started the second half well, bar a couple of runs from Doku, and they’re starting to sulk a bit. It’s now almost five hours since their last goal at a major tournament.
52 min Vavro walks forward from defence and hits a fierce shot from about 35 yards. Casteels watches it bounce wide but it’s another good effort from a team who are playing with so much confidence.
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51 min “Lukaku’s gotta come off,” writes Eagle Brosi. “I think Belgium would be more dangerous with Bakayoko and Trossard switching from centre-forward to winger and back and forth, like they do at the club level. It’s too bad because Lukaku has the ability to play well but I think he’s lost his team’s confidence.”
50 min Doku already looks more dangerous on the left, where he is running at the 37-year-old Pekarik.
49 min “It seems like the last shout for this Golden Generation Belgian team is turning into a whimper,” writes Peadar de Burca. “I have a vague memory of a great Joy of Six from over a decade ago that began (paraphrasing here as I try to feed three hungry daughters) ‘Some of football’s more interesting stories are about those who didn’t make it...’ Is there a story there Rob, about the glorious failure of Belgium to win a tournament?”
It might just be me but I’ve never found them as interesting as, say, Denmark in the mid-1980s or even Romania in 1994. I adore De Bruyne, I loved Hazard, but overall their team has always left me slightly cold. That said, I missed their quarter-final and semi-final in 2018, and that’s an essential part of the story. Maybe I’d think about them differently had I watched those matches, especially the Brazil win.
47 min Haraslin curls a few yards wide of the far post from the edge of the area. A nice effort, though it wasn’t as close as it first looked.
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47 min “Re, the point made earlier about playing from the back: we only notice it when it goes wrong,” says Andy Flintoff. “Most of the time teams are sufficiently technically skilled that it’s not an issue, and the opposition is successfully drawn out to create space which can be worked through and round.”
Do you not think every team in the world that plays out from the back will occasionally concede the type of goal that never befell John Beck’s Cambridge? I’m not saying they should change – the risk/ reward balance is clearly worth it for the best teams – but I also don’t agree that it’s intrinsically more effective. It has to be more nuanced than that or we’re all doomed.
46 min Belgium begin the second half. It looks like Doku and Trossard have swapped wings.
“The final word about playing out from the back,” begins J.R. in Illinois, “has just come in from our halftime pundit Alexi Lalas with the forceful and unequivocal pronouncement ‘Playing out from the back is a disease in the modern game!’ So that’s that I guess. What should we talk about now?”
Well frankly I think knocking it long is in danger of becoming a disease in the modern game.
“Hello Rob,” says Krishnamoorth V. “A useful hack: keep ‘Chance for Lukaku’ in Ctrl+C.”
The poor guy will probably finish his career with over a hundred goals for his country. But it won’t be enough.
Half-time reading
What else did we expect from a man whose surname is an anagram of I, Huge?
Half time: Belgium 0-1 Slovakia
All the fun of the fair in Frankfurt, where a very impressive Slovakia lead through Ivan Schranz’s smart volley. It stemmed from a mistake by Jeremy Doku, whose performance was a microcosm of Belgium’s: good, bad and indifferent. Poor Romelu Lukaku missed a hat-trick of opportunities, and Belgium’s new keeper Koen Casteels made a fine save form Lukas Haraslin’s volley.
45+3 min Slovakia take a short corner on the left. Haraslin crosses deep and Kucka heads a difficult chance off target.
45+1 min “To Chris N’s point (25 min), at the risk of straying into Jonathan Wilson’s turf, it seems to me that rather than a smooth progression to a more sophisticated future, football is a series of back and forths whereby players and tactics are rejected as passé then rediscovered as exciting novelties,” says Tom Hopkins. “In time, I think this will become known as the Niclas Füllkrug Effect.”
What is this nuance of which you speak?
45 min Two minutes of added time. The first half has flown by.
44 min As scruffy as Belgium have been, Lukaku has had three pretty good chances. You have to feel for him, especially after that utter nightmare he had against Croatia in their decisive World Cup game.
42 min: Chance for Lukaku! Carrasco, inside his own half, curls a superb ball over the top for Lukaku. He gets to it first, ahead of the last man Hancko, but his touch round Dubravka is far too heavy and goes behind for a goalkick.
Poor Lukaku has had a nightmare at major tournaments in recent times.
41 min Schranz is booked for a tactical foul.
40 min: Fine save by Casteels! Slovakia have been fantastic. They work the ball neatly down the right to release the tireless Kucka, who looks up and picks out Haraslin on the edge of the area. He sidefoots a careful, technically superb volley that is palmed away by Casteels, diving a long way to his left. That would have been a wonderful goal.
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39 min “Let’s be honest,” says David Wall, who didn’t get the memo, “Belgium aren’t going to win the tournament, perhaps their best chance was the last European Championships in 2020. If they were too old in Qatar to win a tournament (according to De Bruyne), then they’re more so now. Considering how good that group of players have been, and that they seemed to have every position covered, has there ever been a bigger failure to realise potential? It’s the international equivalent of Manchester City assembling their current squad but then falling at the semi-final every time.”
I think we had this conversation during the last World Cup. Personally I never thought they were that good. A fine team who could have won a tournament, but I don’t think it was a particular failure for them not to do so.
In international football, the biggest failure to realise potential might be Brazil 1982-86. Not even a semi-final! (I wouldn’t count the Copa America as a huge failure as it was almost a reserve team that played the final.)
36 min When the corner is eventually taken, Onana heads straight at Dubravka. He was jumping backwards so it was a tricky chance.
34 min Doku runs at Hancko in the area and chips a cross that brushes the stretching Hancko and goes behind for a corner. Hancko has injured himself in the process and is receiving treatment, possibly for twisted blood.
32 min Trossard collects a loose ball 22 yards ou and hits an early shot that is blocked by Vavro. I love that his nickname in the Slovakia dressing-room is ‘Bobby’.
32 min Thanks to the gift of technology, we can bring you exclusive footage of Domenico Tedesco’s half-time teamtalk.
31 min A nice move from Slovakia, full of crisp early passing, ends with Bozenik shooting on the turn in the D. Casteels makes a comfortable save.
29 min Belgium continue to dominate possession but they haven’t created much since those early minutes.
When another move breaks down, Mangala fouls Haraslin and is booked.
28 min Belgium want a yellow card when Pekarik takes a shortcut through the back of Trossard. The referee decides a free-kick is sufficient.
26 min Another loose pass from Dubravka is intercepted, though this time there is no chance of a direct shot. What’s the Slovakian for ‘can we not knock it’?
25 min “Is it just me or does it seem like every other goal scored these days comes from a team making a mess of playing out from the back?” writes Chris N. “I’m not asking for a return to dark ages hoofball but at some point a correction needs to happen.”
Part of the problem is the binary discourse, for want of a less pompous phrase. The moment anyone suggests the occasional safety-first clearance, they’re treated as if they drink pints of wine and watch GB News of a night.
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23 min Bosenik’s shot from the edge of the area is blocked after another precise Slovakian attack. They’ve been terrific.
21 min: Chance for Belgium! Dubavka, pressed by De Bruyne, plays an awful pass straight to Trossard 25 yards out. His golf shot clears Dubravka but also the crossbar. That was a really good chance for a player of his class.
19 min Bozenik makes a good run into the area, forcing Faes to concede a corner. Slovakia look a really well-coached side.
Faes puts a full stop on this particular entry by heading the corner away.
16 min De Bruyne slides a forensic eturn pass towards Trossard in the area. Pekarik slides in to not only win the ball but also knock it off Trossard and behind for a goalkick.
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14 min Belgium started really well, with two sniffs for Lukaku, but that goal has changed the mood. A few of their players already have the face on.
12 min Apologies, it took me a while to unpick that goal. Essentially it was the press wot won it (and the skill and awareness of Schranz).
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Goal given! Slovakia pressed superbly near the corner flag, forcing Doku to play a desperate pass across his own area. Schranz got to it just before Debast and flicked the ball cleverly behind his front leg to the onrushing Kucka. His stinging shot was saved by Casteels, and Schranz – very much a member of Ron Atkinson’s Wide Awake Club – volleyed the rebound into the net. That’s such a smart finish, especially as the ball came to him barely a couple of seconds after the flick behind his standing leg.
I thought Schranz was offside when Kucka had the shot, as did the Belgium defenders. We were wrong and the goal stands.
A horrible defensive error gifts Slovakia the lead against Belgium 🇸🇰#Euro2024 | #BELSVK pic.twitter.com/V3zuosaL2S
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2024
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GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Slovakia (Schranz 7)
I think this might be offside.
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6 min Another chance for Belgium! Lukaku beats the outrushing Dubravka to Doku’s through pass, though his touch takes the ball too wide for a shot. Trossard retrieves on the left, with Lukaku screaming for a pass in front of goal. He doesn’t get it: Trossard’s cross is claimed by the keeper.
4 min That was a blistering run from Doku. Slovakia tried to press and were stripped naked the moment Doku lost his man on the halfway line.
3 min: Big chance for Lukaku! Doku turns thrillingly on the halfway line, beats two more players and squares the ball towards De Bruyne on the penalty spot. His attempted shot on the stretch turns into a pass for Lukaku, who whacks a close-range shot too close to Dubravka. Either side and he’d have scored. Still a pretty good save though.
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2 min De Bruyne has started as the No10, with Trossard to his left and Doku on the right.
1 min Peep peep! Slovakia, in white, kick off from left to right as we watch. Belgium are in their burgundy strip.
“It’s my duty to shoehorn Everton references into other games, and fortunately Belgium are starting Amadou Onana,” says Matt Burtz. “ Onana is a player who vexes Everton fans; he has clearly evident talent and is adept at heading in goals. However, he had a tendency to drift through games and not take them by the scruff of the neck when it was necessary.
“Many fans will never forgive his nonchalant penalty that would have taken Everton to the League Cup semis had he not weakly kicked it straight to the keeper. Some think he sees Everton merely as a stepping stone to a bigger club and will turn it on for the Euros, then be sold later in the window as he is one of few players with value. We shall see.”
I think he’s a serious talent. His best performances have a really infectious aggression, but it sounds like he doesn’t always approach that level. That would explain why he’s wanted by some of the best teams in the world yet couldn’t always get a game for a team fighting relegation.
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Belgium’s best chances to win a major competition were in 2016 and 2018. They started Euro 2020 with four straight wins but then lost taemly to Italy in the quarter-finals. In Qatar they were a bit of a mess, although they should still have qualified ahead of the eventual semi-finalists.
They’re unbeaten since that tournament, a run that includes a win away to Germany and a draw at Wembley. What it all means, I know not.
Read more on Yannick Carrasco, who starts at left-back today. Just ignore the bit that says ‘forward’.
Match report: Romania 3-0 Ukraine
Nick Ames was in Munich to watch Romania punish Andriy Lunin’s imperfections.
This is a big day for the Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco, who will take charge of his first game at a major tournament. He’s the second youngest coach at the tournament after Julian Nagelsmann; in fact he’s almost young enough to be Brighton manager.
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Team news
Yannick Carrasco starts at left-back for Belgium ahead of Maxim De Cuyper, who was apparently cursed by his inclusion in our preamble. The attacking trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Leandro Trossard will probably rotate during the game.
Slovakia stick with the same XI that thumped Wales 4-0 in their warm-up game.
Belgium (possible 4-2-3-1) Casteels; Castagne, Faes, Debast, Carrasco; Mangala, Onana; Doku, De Bruyne, Trossard; Lukaku.
Substitutes: Kaminski, Sels, Theate, Vertonghen, Witsel, Tielemans, Lukebakio, Vranckx, De Ketelaere, Bakayoko, Openda, Vermeeren, De Cuyper.
Slovakia (possible 4-3-3) Dubravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Bozenik, Haraslin.
Substitutes: Rodak, Ravas, Obert, Rigo, Gyomber, Suslov, Tupta, Benes, Hrosovsky, De Marco, Strelec, Duris, Bero, L Sauer, Kosa.
Referee Umut Meler (Turkey).
Starting #EURO2024 with these 1️⃣1️⃣. #SelectedByPwC #BELSVK #WirSchaffenDas pic.twitter.com/WWmVed4tlt
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) June 17, 2024
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genius
(dʒiːniəs )
Word forms: plural geniuses
1. UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
Genius is very great ability or skill in a particular subject or activity.
The other match in this group is about to come to an end. Romania are 3-0 up against Ukraine and cruising.
Belgium team guide
There will be one notable absentee at Euro 2024 and that is Thibaut Courtois. The Real Madrid goalkeeper, unlike some of his compatriots, had not planned to announce his retirement after the World Cup but has fallen out with Tedesco. After a dispute with the coach regarding the captain’s armband, Courtois accused the national coach of a “breach of trust”.
Slovakia team guide
The 26-year-old defender David Hancko is the team’s most interesting player to watch. He is among the best centre-backs in the Eredivisie, where he helped Arne Slot’s Feyenoord win the league in 2023. Interestingly, for the national team, he is normally used as a left wing-back where he has been very influential when it comes to chance creation. His versatility and ability in defence and attack has led to interest from Premier League clubs. In the past there has been talk of a move to West Ham or Aston Villa, but right now following Slot to Liverpool seems a natural fit.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Belgium v Slovakia in Frankfurt. According to our good friend Fifa Rankings, Belgium are the second best team at Euro 2024, behind France, yet nobody really fancies them to go the distance. Perhaps, after all the false hope of the peak golden generation years, that will be a blessing.
Many of the best players of that era are still knocking around, including the mighty Kevin De Bruyne; others, like Eden Hazard, were last seen at Soccer Aid. There is some exciting newish blood in the likes of Jeremy Doku, Maxim De Cuyper and Leandro Trossard, who is 29 going on 21.
Even in transition, Belgium will be expected to qualify comfortably from their group. Mind you, we said that in Qatar. It’s on the pitch where it counts!
Kick off 5pm.
