Belgium showing they mean business in qualifiers
Belgium have started their World Cup qualifying campaign with three wins out of three games so far. On Monday night the Red Devils dispatched hapless Gibraltar 6-0 with ease, as Christian Benteke broke the record for the quickest ever goal in qualifying, scoring after just 8.1 seconds.
Roberto Martinez’s team are heavy favourites to top what looks like a comfortable qualification group. The Spaniard’s appointment raised eyebrows, but so far the Red Devils have been dominant in their qualifying campaign.
Belgium were one of the dark horses to win Euro 2016 but were surprisingly knocked out of the competition at the quarter-final stage by Wales. The Red Devils were criticised for their perceived underperformance in France.
A big contributing factor to that defeat against Wales was the fact that the Red Devils were missing a number of first-choice defenders heading into that clash. Boss Marc Wilmots paid the price for the defeat by being sacked.
However, in truth Wilmots ability to manage his highly talented squad had been questioned long before the defeat against the Dragons. Martinez was not a universally popular choice for the job either.
The former Everton boss does have a reputation for producing teams that play attacking football. With the attacking players available to him such as Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard the Spaniard should pick up a lot of wins in the job.
The Spaniard’s teams have always struggled in defence. However, with Tottenham pair Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld available to marshal the Belgian backline, Martinez’s defensive weaknesses may not be exposed as often.
There seems to be no doubt that Belgium will coast through their qualification group. The Red Devils have very little competition for that top spot.
Despite the fact that Martinez’s team have been handed a comfortable pass to the 2018 World Cup, the Red Devils are showing their quality and seem determined to make light work of their opponents in group H.
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