2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification

[ATL Boy]

I'm loving this Belgian team as well and am completely sold on this generation. Still very young I think they'll have a legitimate chance of winning the 2018 WC when they hit their primes, and I have them and Columbia as my dark horse teams to make it far in this upcoming WC.

[J-Mezzy]

Yes, this young Belgium team is fun to watch and has a lot of promise. I hope they do well in the world cup. In regards to Colombia, we got a nice squad ourselves but I don't see us having any chance to win against the big boys with the line ups that our coach puts on the field.

[cgf]

I dunno about Belgium. They still have no fullbacks and while KdB and Hazard will just get better, Moussa, Felaini and co will already be slowing down come the russian WC. I think that the euros will be their time where their younger stars are starting to enter their primes and the vets haven't started to slow down yet, if they're going to win a tournament I think it'll be that one.

[BelgianMagic]

Yeah the fullbacks have been a problem the last couple of years .. If everyone's healthy Vermaelen-Kompany will be the CBs with Vertonghen at LB & Alderweireld at RB .. Not the preferred position for both, but they've also never disappointed when playing there ..

We do have some young players for the RB spot, Cavanda (Lazio) & Vermijl (ManU) .. I think they'll join the team in the next 2 yrs without a doubt

As for the aging, I agree Dembele, Fellaini & Defour will probably be at the end of their prime in 2018, but for their positions we do have lotta young talent too .. For Fellaini's position, I think Malanda (going to Wolfsburg in January) will definitely be his replacement in 4-5 yrs. He's also a beast, but with normal hair

We do have another good generation coming up .. Bakkali (PSV), Perreira/Januzaj (ManU), Chelsea's Musonda brothers (especially the youngest brother) .. Our national youth coaches say that generation can become better than our current team, but I mostly expect a lot from those 4 players I just named. They're already close to the squad as of now ..

But as always, the hardest part is to make a team of all this talent. Atm, we have no problem with ego's, but that's bound to change at some point ..

[J-Mezzy]

The issue that teams like Colombia and Belgium have is that Germany and Spain keep reloading their talent almost effortlessly. Their youth teams are better than many senior teams

[BelgianMagic]

Yeah it's insane how much talent those 2 countries have

As for our current team, I think it's not just talent but also the whole hype around the team that makes them strong. I've never seen anything like this in our country. People are partying in the streets, 80 cities had giant screens last night & those places were absolutely loaded with fans (& booze of course). 1/3 of our entire population watched the last 2 games .. Heck, people are even learning portuguese to go to Brazil next year ..

I think this really helps the team .. A semi final or final in one of the next 3 tourneys (WC, EC & WC) could be possible, but to really win a championship, I think we're gonna come up short

Personally I expect a lot from Germany in the next 3-4 tournaments. I think they're gonna be the next Spain

[J-Mezzy]

Yeah the hype is similar back at home for us, but I would be content with a quarter finals performance for us. Anything above that woud be gravy. Not only do you have to worry about the great German and Spain teams, you got the usual suspects of Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, France to worry about on top of that. It would take a special showing from either of our countries to endure a magical run deep in the WC.

Having said that, runs like that are not unusual in the WC. You got Uruguay last WC, Croatia, Turkey, S. Korea, Sweden and others in the past. Sometimes the right drawing goes a long way.

[BelgianMagic]

I really can't wait for the WC .. Last couple of tournaments there were like 2, maybe 3 teams with a legit chance of winning, but next year is really gonna be different I think

Brazil has the talent & crowd to win, Spain & Germany will always be favorites, Argentina has amazing offensive talent, Portugal was incredibly close at beating Spain last year, Italy is always strong in big tournaments & than you have teams with the talent to make a deep run (Columbia, France, Belgium, Croatia, Uruguay) .. I think it's gonna be a fantastic WC

[J-Mezzy]

How is your coach?

I think that with so many evenly matched teams, it will come down to coaching to make a deep run. Putting the best line up and knowing how to make adjustments will be difference makers for all of the up and coming teams. Our coach has done well, but I think his line ups will keep us from making a deep run. I hope you guys have a better situation.

[ATL Boy]

Yea, Germany and Spain are just soccer factories at this point. I mean look at Germany's midfield: Ozil, Sweiny, Gotze, Muller, Reus, Khedira, Kroos, Gundogan. Any one of these players would easily start on another national team not named Spain, it's pretty insane.

[cgf]

Belgium definitely has some interesting youth talents coming through, but the problem with youth talents is that some of them won't make all of the progress they have to to flourish, and with how important midfielders have become you're likely gunna need more than just Witsel and Malanda to replace your current crew. I still think they'll qualify for big tournaments until the Hazard/KdB generation start to get older and less driven, but at the next euros I could see you guys making a run, especially with the expanded team pool making it more likely that there could be some favorable draws in the knockouts. But after that I see you settling in as a big tournament team who should make it out of their group, but don't have the squad to go too far, kinda what I see from the Swiss, Danes or this coming generation of Dutch players.

BTW I'm really high on the swiss, even if they did just pull a germany and let a scandinavian country come back to tie from 4-1 down. Xhaka is not just bossing for the NT but has really taken a big step at Gladbach, building on the strong end to last season he had, with the likes of Inler, Schwegler, Behrami and Dzemali behind him, and Shaqiri and Stoker, Hajrovic or Zuber to help him create for Drmic, Seferovic or Mehmedi they're really starting to fill out that squad with good young attackers to go with their excellent midfield. Add a reliable defense with a great pair of fullbacks and strong goal keeping and the swiss will be a bitch to beat in the next 3 tournaments as all of those attackers are 22 or younger other than Stoker, who's 24. And even on D their best players are all 25 or younger other than Lichtsteiner.

[J-Mezzy]

Speaking of Belgium and Colombia, looks like we will play each other in November, We will also play Holland. Now those are teams that Colombia should be playing to see where we are at., We will see if Colombia is for real. I don't expect wins with the line ups we have, but should be funb games no matter what. I can't wait to see the Belgium game.

[BelgianMagic]

How is your coach?

I think that with so many evenly matched teams, it will come down to coaching to make a deep run. Putting the best line up and knowing how to make adjustments will be difference makers for all of the up and coming teams. Our coach has done well, but I think his line ups will keep us from making a deep run. I hope you guys have a better situation.

Our coach (Marc Wilmots) isn't very experienced as a coach. He was assistent to the previous coach (who was an absolutely horrible coach) and took over cause that guy couldn't handle the group very well

But I think our coach is the right man in the right place. Our group always needed someone they could look up to, someone who's "been there, done that" .. As a player, he played 3 World Cups (he scored the last Belgian goal in a WC), he was always a fan favorite, extremely hard worker, very intelligent midfielder who scored a lot. And he tries to develop that same (humble) attitude with his players, and I think that's really working.

I'm sure all the Germans here will still remember him, he played great when he was at Schalke

So far his decisions have all paid off. Last game he decided to start with Defour instead of Dembele, to create what we in Belgium call the "golden triangle" Defour-Witsel-Fellaini, which had great success playing like this at Standard Liège before all 3 went abroad. Defour scored and the midfield looked a lot stronger than last game with Dembele. He's also not afraid to bench a "star", which is good cause a group like this doesn't need ego's clashing ..

Speaking of Belgium and Colombia, looks like we will play each other in November, We will also play Holland. Now those are teams that Colombia should be playing to see where we are at., We will see if Colombia is for real. I don't expect wins with the line ups we have, but should be funb games no matter what. I can't wait to see the Belgium game.

Oh I didn't know we're gonna play Colombia that's a great matchup. Really like to go see that game, I was a big fan of the "colombian connection" Rodriguez-Martinez at Porto, and I saw Bacca every week here in Belgium, like to see how he does in a big matchup (if he plays)

Can't wait

[5DOM]

Lukaku sends Belgium to Brazil

[J-Mezzy]

2 for Lukaku. This kid is going to be special.

[Slava]

Anyone tell me how Afroman played? He started in a two man midfield against a pretty good Crotian mid. I'm assuming Defour played the #10 instead of Afro.

[5DOM]

Looks more like a 4-3-3 with Witsel holding and Fellaini and Defour playing further up the pitch. His work rate and link up play have been pretty good, but Croatia outside for first few minutes of the second half doesn't seem all that interested.

[BelgianMagic]

YEAH BABYYYYY !!!!! Brazil here we come

[BelgianMagic]

Anyone tell me how Afroman played? He started in a two man midfield against a pretty good Crotian mid. I'm assuming Defour played the #10 instead of Afro.

This was the best game I've seen from him with the National Team ..

Think this is mainly cause he played in the "Golden Triangle", like we call it, with Defour&Witsel. They've played like that for a couple of years when they were at the same club. They compliment each other perfectly .. No wonder Moyes is interested in buying Witsel in January, I think that would be a fantastic transfer for ManU.

Fellaini's a strange fella though. One game he looks like he has no business being on a football pitch (like we've seen in the PL this season ), the other game he's a beast like today .. It's all bout the system.

Personally I think Witsel is by far the best midfielder we have. Also a lot more versatile than Fellaini.

[ATL Boy]

Going into Croatia and winning without your best defender and captain is not an easy thing to do. Like I said, I consider this Belgium team a dark horse in the World Cup and in Euro 2016.