Mousa Dembélé says Belgium have shed their reputation for cliques and infighting to give themselves a chance of Euro 2016 success. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder believes the squad’s unity can be seen as a strong symbol in a country still coming to terms with the terror attacks in Brussels in March, in which 32 people were killed.
Belgium are ranked by Fifa as the second best team in world football – behind Argentina – and, as such, they are among the favourites to win the championship in France, where they have been drawn against Italy, Sweden and Republic of Ireland at the group phase.
But before Marc Wilmots’s current crop came together, the nation’s results were more erratic and the camp would often be split between Flemish and French speakers. Friction was common-place and it was not unusual, for example, to see the two groups sitting apart at dinner time.
“If you compare it to before, the national team was very divided,” Dembélé says. “You had a lot of very different things but now everyone is together. Everybody likes each other and they see that in Belgium.”
There has been the discussion as to whether Wilmots’s squad can help the country’s morale after the terrorist atrocities, in which Brussels airport and a metro stadium were targeted. Dembélé is understandably wary about serving up any glib headlines but he recognises football’s capacity to generate happiness and pride.
“That’s such a difficult question,” Dembélé says. “For me personally, it’s difficult to know if you can help people [who were affected by the attacks]. People say to me that it can help a lot if we do well at the Euros and there will be a certain pride, which I have to believe. But it’s difficult to know whether that’s really true because I’m inside of this and I’m just doing my job, my hobby.
“I see that people in Belgium are very proud of us and they are very happy but can it change something? Maybe. I think the squad’s togetherness helps. Honestly, I never think about this and I just think about different things that have to change in the country, for example. But when I’m thinking about it now, it could help. Imagine we win the Euros – it can make the country proud. It can help, I think.”
Dembélé is coming off an outstanding season at Tottenham, albeit one marred at the end by a six-match ban for an gouging Chelsea’s Diego Costa, and it is remarkable to think he did not play a single minute during Belgium’s qualification campaign. He is behind Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel and Radja Nainggolan in the pecking order.
“Witsel and Nainggolan – they change all the time,” Dembélé says. “It’s Fellaini and one of the [other] two. And all three are unbelievable players. I fight for my spot, of course. I try to do whatever and for the rest, I can’t do much more. We know we have a very good team. We can do something special. It’s not going to be easy but we have a good chance.”
