Piece by piece the gilt is flaking off what is left of Belgium’s golden generation. An abundance of talent, sometimes functioning, sometimes not, but a team without cohesion or an abiding idea, they were picked off by an unheralded Slovakia side who had everything their lustrous opponents did not. But boy, a fair amount happened along the way.
An unerring finish by Ivan Schranz after a defensive aberration was the decisive moment in the match and it came after just seven minutes.
Just as notable, however, were the indecisive moments that piled on top of each other for Belgium and, in particular, on the broad shoulders of Romelu Lukaku. The forward missed enough chances for two hat-tricks and had not one but two goals disallowed for good measure.
The Belgium manager, Domenico Tedesco, said he had no plans to talk to his star striker about his performance and that seemed the only logical position to take. Lukaku is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer and a player who has commanded more than £200m in transfer fees. But his performance was no less puzzling for that and oddly typical.
Lukaku accrued more xG than the entire Slovakia team, and finished his second overruled goal with aplomb. But he also failed to get shots off when afforded time and space, saw heavy touches run the ball out of play and was denied his first goal because he was offside six yards out from goal. There were more than vague echoes of two years ago, when a hat-trick of second‑half misses against Croatia led to Belgium exiting the Qatar World Cup at the group stage.
It was also an awkward evening for Jérémy Doku. The Belgian winger burst into this match like a firecracker and with his first touch spun past his marker, the highly regarded David Hancko, to set off on a slaloming run that went the length of the pitch and ended with Martin Dubravka keeping out a Lukaku shot with his chest. Five minutes later and in a horrible aberration he surrendered possession in his area for the game’s only goal.
Tracking back to contain Slovakia’s first real attack, Doku came into possession of the ball in his own area. He chose not to take the risk of running with the ball at his feet and opted for a short pass to Wout Faes. But Faes was inside the Manchester City man, not outside, and the pass was underhit. It was closed down by Schranz, ricocheted out to the feet of Robert Bozenik, whose shot was parried by Koen Casteels. The ball ran right and Schranz drilled it low back across goal and into the net. Doku looked like he had seen a ghost.
What had looked before the match like a team of stars against a group of underdogs now looked like a team with a plan and one hoping to rely on individual brilliance. Tedesco, 38, who was dressed like a well‑remunerated denizen of Frankfurt’s financial district in crisp white shirt and gleaming trainers, spoke in depth afterwards about his team’s tactics. But it was difficult to discern on the field.
His side came out in the second half at a fair clip, and after 10 minutes Belgium thought they had their equaliser, Lukaku sliding the ball past Dubravka after a knock down from the impressive Amadou Onana. But the gods of VAR relayed their judgment from on high and Lukaku was offside by about six inches.
There were more – many more – chances to come, not just for Lukaku but Leandro Trossard and Johan Bakayoko too. Slovakia lacked the pace to play effectively on the counterattack, but they had the steel and organisation to take whatever the Belgians threw at them. When that didn’t work they succumbed to brief and disappearing injuries that eked away the seconds. But there was still a chance for one last twist of fate.
With the clock about to tick into added time the substitute Loïs Openda, on for Doku, produced a rapid run of his own to burst past Hancko and into the Slovakia box. He looked up, there was Lukaku, in the clear, onside, and happy to power his shot past Dubravka.
The ground went wild, the game was afoot and … then. VAR again, but this time what for? A handball from Openda as he took the ball under control, a touch confirmed only by the snickometer technology more commonly used for detecting lbw. The soundwave said contact, the referee, Umut Meler, believed it was deliberate and overturned the goal, and Belgium were left to face the consequences.
