|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Red Devils return Belgium set to restore old glory with high expectations
Posted: Friday June 02, 2000 06:17 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The Red Devils are back! Just in time. After spending two year in the doldrums, Belgians are again taking pride again in their national team. As co-hosts of Euro 2000 and boosted by a flurry of good results, the usual skepticism has made way for great expectations. Prior to the arrival of coach Robert Waseige last August, the Devils had only won two games out of 11 and made an embarrassingly early exit in the 1998 World Cup in France without winning a single game. The change of coach sparked a renaissance, with 3-1 win in Italy, a 2-0 victory in Norway and two draws with the Netherlands cementing the reputation of the new boss. Waseige's easygoing style, compared with the strict discipline of his predecessor Georges Leekens, has improved spirits among the players and a fresh confidence on the field has yielded a flurry of goals. Whatever happens, this nation of 10 million will never be a favorite in a major soccer tournament but just getting through the first round would be considered a success here. "We can get to the quarterfinals," said Waseige. "Once we get to that stage, the underdog's chances get better and better." Belgium opens the June 10-July 2 tournament against Sweden before playing Italy and closing its Group B campaign against Turkey. Belgium plays all three games at its trusted 50,000-capacity King Baudouin Stadium. Talks these days centers on comparison with the great Belgium team of the 1980s. As underdogs, the Red Devils reached the 1980 European Championship final only to go down to a last minute German goal. Six years later, it reached the semifinals of the Mexico World Cup, stopped in its stunning run only by two goals from Argentine star Diego Maradona. Belgium has made it to the last five FIFA World Cups, a feat only six other countries out of 197 can boast. However, it will play its first European Championship since 1984. As co-host, it qualified automatically. Fortuitously, all things seem to be coming into place for the Devils as an early scare that key players would miss the tournament through injury has evaporated. One of Belgium's bright hopes, Croation-born Branko Strupar, is likely to be fit by the time the ball drops on June 10th at the King Baudouin Stadium. The Derby County forward had suffered from stretched stomach muscles and a slight hip injury. Veteran Luc Nilis rejoined the revamped Devils last month, rejuvenated at PSV Eindhoven and ready to fill in if Strupar does not make it back in time. Nilis, who moves to Aston Villa of the Premier League next season, declared his career as Red Devil over after Belgium's poor showing at the World Cup finals in France and has been accused of opportunism in making his return now. Schalke 04 Midfielder Marc Wilmots, the heart and guts behind Belgium's resurgence, confronted Nilis over his return but the issue was settled within a few minutes last week. "Where was he when it went bad? I didn't stand alone with that question... For me whoever volunteers is welcome," said Wilmots. After years of relying on a sturdy defense, Waseige has gone on the offense. Banking on the fact that the Belgian league averaged more goals per game than any other major league in Europe, the Devils will have to live up to the statistic into Euro 2000. During Waseige's short tenure Belgium has scored 18 goals in 7 games, including an improbable five in a high-scoring draw in the Netherlands. "This is the strongest Red Devils selection that I have ever seen," said Wilmots, a veteran of three World Cups. With his Schalke 04 teammate, forward Emile Mpenza, he could well create the backbone of the Belgian team. Waseige is confident that his team will not get cocky following the recent success, because years of lackluster results are still too fresh in their minds. "This group will not soon lose sight of reality," he said. Questions who will fill the net increasingly seem to have Anderlecht's Filip De Wilde as an answer. Waseige is known for his indecisiveness here and, in his short reign, he has used no fewer than five different goalkeepers. The Belgians earned their "Red Devils" tag back in 1906, when they played for the first time in red and came back to defeat the Dutch with two late goals. By just getting a worthy squad on the pitch for the June 10 opener against Sweden, it is already living up to its reputation for a late comeback.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
