There are winds of change in the Belgian team. The golden generation that led the Red Devils to be great favorites for the title in some of the most important competitions came crashing down at the World Cup in Qatar and gave way to a new … was. Important players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Axel Witsel survive, but now they must share the spotlight with new figures such as Jérémy Doku, Amadou Onana, Charles de Ketelaere and Leandro Trossard. It is the new Belgium that is coming, that enigma that starts as a clear favorite in a group with many questions and in which there is also a Ukraine that aims to reveal the tournament.
December 1, 2022, Rayan. That is the date and place where Belgium mourned a generation that was coming to an end. On the pitch, against Croatia (0-0), De Bruyne, Courtois, Mertens and company had emptied themselves looking for a qualification for the round of 16 that never came. That day Roberto Martínez said goodbye to his position and the doors to a new era were opened wide. Since that fateful day, the Belgian team has been rebuilding the team, thinking about this summer’s event.
The one chosen to make that transition was Domenico Tedesco. The Italian-German coach, just 38 years old, left the ranks of RB Leipzig and took the helm of the Belgian team with the aim of qualifying for the Euro Cup and rebuilding the team to compete in the event in Germany. He has done so by turning his team into a much more intense block that has changed, above all, in their attitude without the ball. Belgium maintains the vertigo that made it reach the semifinals of a World Cup, but now it is more solid and that has helped it to arrive as group leader after collecting 20 points after an arduous race with Austria, which achieved 19 and reached the last day with the possibility of taking the top.
Belgium is not the same as it used to be, it is not among the favorites for the title, but it still has differential players that make it a team to take into account. Courtois is not there, the big absentee due to disagreements with Tedesco, but the first swords of the golden generation such as De Bruyne, Witsel and Lukaku are in the call. They are the experience in a group in which there are more and more young people willing to break down the door of the national team. Doku is the overflow after his great year at Manchester City, Trossard the opportunism after shining with Arsenal and Onana the muscle after his emergence at Everton. They are the new faces of a Belgium that seeks to resurface.
Artem Dovbyk and Viktor Tsygankov celebrate a goal in a friendly against Ukraine
EFE/EPA/DUMITRU DORU
Ukraine, everyone’s team
Tedesco’s team are favorites, but they cannot be neglected. Ukraine reached the European Championship after beating Bosnia Herzegovina and Iceland in the play-offs and arrives at the event with a group of young players, but who have already proven their worth in some of the most important leagues on the continent. Sergiy Rebrov has put together a competitive team, with a very solid 4-5-1 and with individuals like Lunin, Zinchenko, Konoplya, Sudakov, Tsygankov, Mudryk and Dovbyk.
Milan Skriniar, one of Slovakia’s weapons
REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/File Photo
Slovakia waits for its chance
Behind the favorites are two alternatives. Slovakia has already fought in the last two editions, reaching the round of 16 and this time they arrive led by Francesco Calzona, who combines his position in the national team with being coach of Naples. Under his tutelage, players like Milan Skriniar, Martin Dúbravka and Stanislav Lobotka.
Image of the Romanian eleven in a friendly prior to the Euro Cup
EFE/EPA/Robert Ghement
The return of Romania
Romania has fewer stars, which will play in a European Championship eight years later with Edward Iordanescu at the helm and with footballers who have legendary names and who will seek to act as such. A team with Moldovan, Hagi or Puşcaş doesn’t look bad at all, although Dragusin, Tottenham’s centre-back, will be the true reference of the group.
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