Belgium is determined to take its revenge and erase the mass of painful memories facing its French neighbors. Confrontations against the Blues have rarely been favorable to the Red Devils, never even in major competitions. 1938 World Cup, Euro 1984, 1986 World Cup and obviously 2018 World Cup: France systematically dominated Belgium.
And if the Blues did not shine during the group stage of the Euro, Belgium was not more inspired. Enough to make Didier Deschamps’ men the favorites of the new duel between neighbors, in the eyes of the Belgians. “On paper, France has more qualities, very clearly. On the Belgian side, three players have a super power: Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku. The problem is that N’Golo Kanté can perfectly take care of Kevin De Bruyne, there is a Dayot Upamecano-William Saliba pair who athletically has enough response to resist Romelu Lukaku. My gaze turns to Jérémy Doku who will have Jules Koundé in his zone, who is not a trained full-back. We’ll see what happens but France has an advantage and Kylian Mbappé is extraordinary.”analyzed Jonathan Lange, editor-in-chief of the Last hour.
“Kylian is exceptional but…”
However, the Belgians are not making a mountain out of a molehill about the new Madrid native. “I am very, very afraid of Mbappé”Jan Vertonghen joked, while Wout Faes, the former Stade de Reims defender, was more academic: “We will have to defend as a team. It is not alone that we stop Mbappé. » But Thomas Meunier, former teammate of Kylian Mbappé, has already thought about the problem.
“I have some ideas but I don’t want to give everything in an interview, he said at a press conference.
Kylian is exceptional but the French team is not just Kylian. Griezmann, Dembélé, even Barcola… offensively it’s an armada. And even defensively it’s quite exceptional. It’s a pretty complete group. The key will be mentally: a lot of aggression, no fear of the ball and I think we will be able to outsmart them. »
The Belgian defender, who has not played a single minute since the start of the Euro after being injured in preparation, is impressed by the Blues’ reserve. “It’s still a very good team, we’re not going to hide it. They have a fairly exceptional resource of talent, the sporting wealth is just sublime,” he breathed, taking care to add: “But France finished second, like us, so it wasn’t all perfect. We’ll have every chance, it’ll be a nice 50-50.”
