Bye!
That’s it from me. It’s been a thrill. Unless you’re Belgian, obviously. Here, by way of parting gift, is a match report. Enjoy!
All is not lost for Belgium. Lukaku was terrible, and shouldn’t start their next game. Origi’s mobility and speed gave Italy real problems, even if he missed a good chance, messed up another for Fellaini and also randomly donkeyed the ball out of play for no good reason at one point.
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“We haven’t done anything yet,” says Conte.
#Conte: "It was a great game, we suffered when we had to. But, we haven't done anything yet." #BelgiumItaly #Euro2016 #BELITA
— Italy (@azzurri) June 13, 2016
And Pellè’s goal wasn’t exactly a tap-in, either. The ball came to him at waist height, and it took some effort to keep his foot over it, but the volley was vicious and also perfect.
Something unnerving about Conte, esp in all-black, & the blood, & the sheer cunning. Can see him being cast as PL's Le Chiffre next season
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceTel) June 13, 2016
That was probably the best game of the tournament so far. It never dipped below interesting, was tactically fascinating, had moments of great quality and skill, but also of immense athleticism, and two lovely goals.
That may have been the most Italian performance in the entire history of Italian football.
— Richard Williams (@rwilliams1947) June 13, 2016
“I don’t want to brag too much about it, but …” says Luca Vialli.
Final score: Belgium 0-2 Italy
And that’s the last meaningful action of the night! What a win for Italy!
GOAL! Belgium 0-2 Italy (Pellè, 90+3 mins)
And Pellè seals the win! That’s a stylish goal on the counter, Immobile carrying the ball into Belgium’s half and finding Candreva, who draws the keeper and instead of shooting chips to the far post, where Pellè slams the ball in on the volley!
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90+2 mins: Bonucci finds Giaccherini with a raking crossfield pass, but the midfielder can’t control.
90+1 mins: Vertonghen has talked his way into the book, where he is the first Belgian name.
90+1 mins: We’re into stoppage time, of which there will be at least three minutes.
90 mins: And then a cross from the right is missed at the near post by Origi, so surprising Fellaini that he fails to capitalise at the far!
89 mins: Oooh! Hazard is held up by Immobile so passes to, um, someone, who dances into the area but picks out the only bit of box without a Belgian in!
This is like a pretty decent back and forth Monday night Premier league game. I expect more from you Europe
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) June 13, 2016
88 mins: … which is delayed so that the referee can talk to Fellaini, who was trying to run to the near post, and Chiellini, who appeared intent on strangling him.
87 mins: Belgium are huffing and puffing now. They nick the ball off Italy in the Italians’ half, and though the cross is overhit, Alderweireld chases it down and wins a corner.
85 mins: And Italy break, sprint forward and Immobile thwacks a shot goalwards from 20 yards which Courtois tips athletically wide!
84 mins: Oooh! A cross from the right looks to be heading to Fellaini, until Origi flings a foot at it and bicycle kicks wide.
84 mins: Thiago Motta gets booked for fouling Hazard for no good reason in an irrelevant part of the pitch. It’s all becoming a bit desperate from the leaders.
82 mins: Chance! De Bruyne crosses from the left, and Origi at the near post flicks the ball over the bar!
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82 mins: The number of times Italy have ended up desperately clinging on to a one goal lead. The last couple of minutes have been all Belgium.
80 mins: “I think you’re being harsh on Hazard,” writes Richard Mellor. “He is at least in 6/10 territory, ahead of De Bruyne and Lukaku. Somewhere, in a dark, vindictive, special room, Jose Mourinho is chuckling and saying ‘That’s why I let them both go.’” He’s improved since the move into the middle, for sure. He hasn’t produced a defining moment yet, but at least he looks willing and able.
80 mins: Mertens sizes up a shot from 25 yards, and two Italians fling themselves at him, Parolo winning the race to take one in the face.
The italians make fouls that us english dont think about....take a yellow card to stop any type of counter attack
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) June 13, 2016
78 mins: Another substitution: Daniele De Rossi has come off, and Thiago Motta has come on. And Belgium waste their free-kick, hoisting it too close to Buffon.
78 mins: About three seconds after I write that, Bonucci puts a foot wrong. Origi spins and heads off towards Italy’s area, and Bonucci slides in late and takes his legs away. Another booking.
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77 mins: Italy’s defence is just excellent. Chiellini and Bonucci, in particular, have barely put a foot wrong.
76 mins: Also, Ciman has left the field, and Carrasco has entered it.
74 mins: Hilarious double-foul from Eder! Candreva gives the ball away foolishly and Belgium break, at least for as long as it takes Eder to grab Mertens around the neck, haul him down and then boot the ball as hard as he can down the pitch. That’s the very epitome of cynical. He’s booked, and immediately replaced. Immobile comes on.
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74 mins: Parolo slides the ball along the edge of the Belgium area to Giaccherini, whose shot on the half-turn was heading wide, but was deflected wider. Corner.
73 mins: Lukaku’s game is over. Divock Origi, who also has a novelty hairstyle, replaces him.
72 mins: Hazard is pushing, trying, but Belgium’s attacks keep dying out the moment they hit Lukaku.
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69 mins: Hazard has space and runs at the Italy defence. The massed ranks in red roar. De Bruyne runs to his right, Lukaku to his left. Options. Potential. He passes into a defender’s leg, collects the rebound and runs into another defender’s leg.
68 mins: “I think it’s too much to ask that Belgium win here,” writes Patrick Sullivan. “They have their chocolate and their lambic. It would not be right that they have a winning team as well. After all, Italy only has, well, Italians.” Not a fan of vino or prosciutto, then?
67 mins: Pellè is currently off the pitch, apparently having a dislocated finger relocated.
66 mins: Chiellini gets himself a booking, for pulling Hazard back on the half-way line.
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63 mins: Hazard, having failed to impress on the left, and failed to impress on the right, has now moved central. He’s now playing just off Lukaku, with Fellaini back in the midfield engine room.
63 mins: The corner is eventually worked back to De Bruyne, who crosses over everyone and out of play.
62 mins: Vertonghen curls in an excellent cross from deep on the left, and earns his side a corner. Belgium make their first substitution before they take it, Nainggolan coming off and Mertens coming on.
60 mins: Lukaku is a lumbering mess. He’s not holding the ball up when it’s played to his feet or chest, and he’s not running behind the defence either. “Poor old Lukaku,” writes Charles Antaki. “You can take the player out of Everton but, on tonight’s performance, you can’t take the Everton out of the player.”
59 mins: The game’s first substitution sees Darmian come off and De Sciglio come on.
58 mins: A much better corner from De Bruyne, prompting some panic in the Italy defence – but also a free kick, awarded – inevitably – against Fellaini.
56 mins: Hazard cuts in from the right and shoots with his left foot. It’s hard, and it’s on target, but it’s right at Buffon, who pats it down and then collects.
54 mins: Great save Courtois! Italy storm up the other end, move the ball from left to right, chip it into the mixer, Pellè heads towards the corner of the net, but the goalkeeper flings himself to his right and gets a fingertip to it!
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53 mins: … Belgium counter-attack down the right, De Bruyne picks Lukaku out with a first-time crossfield pass, and the striker tries to chip over Buffon – which he does – and in – which he doesn’t. Their finest chance of the game by a mile, and it should have led to an equaliser.
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53 mins: Candreva is played in on the right, but Vertonghen recovers to slide the ball out of play. It’s still the Italians threatening, though. Until …
52 mins: Belgium now seem to be playing with something more like a traditional front two, with Fellaini partnering Lukaku.
50 mins: The furious post-half-time-rollicking Belgian assault has not transpired.
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46 mins: Parolo is played into the area, and plenty of space, but despite having two opportunities to do so, he fails to find a team-mate.
46 min: And they’re off!
The players are back out, ready for half two. It’s time for Marc Wilmots to earn his corn. His team seems to be playing to Italy’s strengths: they need to turn them and stretch them.
The half’s other moment of interest saw Antonio Conte get a blood nose after some boisterous post-goal celebrating.
“I do think more mention should be made of the Italian team’s socks,” writes Kimberley Thonger. “They are surely the most splendid pieces of hosiery worn by any team this side of the 1970s.” Well, that is quite the reaction. I think they’re a lot more interesting from the back than from the front, and are thus at best only 50% good.
“Somehow I had never noticed this but Eden Hazard is Belgium’s captain? They really have no better candidate?” boggles JR. “What’s he going to lead them to, eating hamburgers during the game?” He certainly seems the quiet type, rather than the chest-thumping, inspirational leader kind. Plus he comes into the tournament on the back of a season of sustained underachievement.
Gianluca Vialli’s half-time summary: “You’ve seen a bunch of very talented individuals, and less talented players who play as a team.”
Half time: Belgium 0-1 Italy
45+1 mins: And that’s half time. Belgium have been very poor, Italy impressive.
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45 mins: Another half-chance for Italy! Candreva gets down the right, and his low cross finds Pellè, and he … well … side-foots weakly into Ciman, who stops the ball going way wide.
great story from Belgian colleague: Wilmots trained once v a 3-5-2 this week. first XI were beaten 4-0.
— Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) June 13, 2016
45 mins: Barzagli grabs a fistful of Fellaini’s shirt as the pair tussle for a cross, and somehow translates this into an Italy free kick.
43 mins: Another vague sniff of potential for Belgium: a cross from the right, a nod down from Fellaini, and Lukaku waves a half-interested boot at the ball as it bounces through to Buffon. I did say vague.
41 mins: Belgium’s best moment of the half sees De Bruyne picked out with a low pass as he makes a run from the right into the area, but he’s immediately and inevitably closed down, and his shot is blocked. “You wonder how an attacking line up including Hazard, de Bruyne, and Lukaku can seem so disjointed,” writes Hugh Molloy. “I think United fans would call this the Fellaini factor. He’s an effective footballer as an individual, but totally ruins the shape of a forward line.”
39 mins: Witsel shoots wide from 22 yards. Italy have kept both Hazard and De Bruyne extremely quiet, and Belgium have done little more than chance their arm occasionally from distance.
36 mins: And they should be two up! A cross is half-cleared, up into the air, and headed back into the mixer, where Pellè is all alone, six yards out, with the goalkeeper out of position, but he sends the ball wide!
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36 mins: That’s an excellent corner, and the ball lands seven yards from goal, level with the far post, but nobody’s there to put it away!
35 mins: From the right-hand corner of the area Candreva slams a left-footed shot goalwards. A fine strike, but a straightforward save. Corner.
33 mins: As good as the pass was, it would have been for nought had Giaccherini not controlled it spectacularly well. Lovely work. Hazard immediately pops up on the right wing for the first time. He’s done very little on the left, so it’s not much of a surprise.
GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Italy (Giaccherini, 32 mins)
What a pass, and Italy take the lead! I think it was Bonucci’s ball, from just inside his half, over the defence and perfectly into the run of Giaccherini, who controls, opens up his body and shoots past Courtois!
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30 mins: Eder tries a high, volleyed pass to Parolo and overhits it, and while every Belgian stands still Candreva sprints down the line to keep it in and finds himself in all sorts of space, but his cross back towards Eder is cleared.
28 mins: Pellè attempts a 20-yard curler across goal from left to right, but it flies a couple of yards wide. “Belgium seem to have taken the approach that, unable to play straight through this wall of an Italian defence nor cross with success, they will pass back and shoot from range,” writes Jeremy Dresner. “A low-scoring, low chance game therefore always threatens to light up suddenly with the spark of a Thunderbastard!”
Conte well ahead on points, as expected. Hard to fathom what Wilmots is trying to do, except trusting the huge talent at his disposal.
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) June 13, 2016
24 mins: De Bruyne hits a genuinely terrible corner, which bounces a couple of times on its way to the nearest Italian.
That’s a pen. Takes the leg not the ball
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) June 13, 2016
23 mins: Giaccherini has the ball, right on the corner of the penalty area, on the left near the touchline, when Ciman slides in and the Italian goes tumbling. There was very little contact there, perhaps none, but Ciman must still have been very relieved when Clattenburg awarded a goal kick.
22 mins: Italy basically have a back five when not in possession, and a front four when they do, with the two full-backs forming part of both groups. They’re going to be knackered by the evening’s end.
20 mins: Belgium are looking, and failing to find, a killer pass. First Vertonghen’s ball into Fellaini is ushered out of play by Chiellini, then Nainggolan’s chip towards Lukaku runs just beyond him.
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17 mins: The game has settled into a very enjoyable pace. Not so fast as to be manic, not so slow as to be stilted. Possession changing hands regularly, the ball zipping from one end to the other. No chances yet, but it’s all very promising.
15 mins: And then some good play by Belgium. They’re taking turns, two good minutes each. These end with Chiellini thumping the ball into touch when under little pressure, but the corner is headed clear.
13 mins: Some good play from Italy, working the ball around and up to the edge of Belgium’s penalty area, though then Pellè hits a pass to Darmian that’s too strong and rumbles out of play.
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11 mins: The corner gives Fellaini a first chance to get physical with Chiellini from a set piece, and sure enough he gives the Italian a good shove after the ball passes over them both.
10 mins: … and Belgium break, their efforts ending in a fine, fierce Nainggolan shot from 20 yards which Buffon turns round the post.
10 mins: Now Candreva attacks, ignoring a Belgian player collapsed on the turf in midfield, but his cross is poor, and cleared.
8 mins: Candreva, under pressure, facing his own goal, 25 yards out, juggles the ball over his shoulder, spins, controls it, turns again and plays a pass into midfield. Nicely done.
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7 mins: Eder challenges Vermaelen and catches his ankle with a raised boot. Vermaelen wails and rolls around in unnecessary style, and seems quite affronted that all his effort didn’t even bring a booking.
Clattenburg been reffing Italy for 7 mins and already busting out the Italian hand gestures pic.twitter.com/men9wVIwEI
— Scott Fleming (@sfcalcio) June 13, 2016
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4 mins: The first shot of the night comes from Eder, just outside the penalty area, but it deflects off a defender and rolls harmlessly to Courtois.
2 mins: Lukaku hares into space down the right, but his low centre finds only a defender.
What footballers look like in 2016. pic.twitter.com/1mykBSFL6B
— Alex Chick (@alex_eurosport) June 13, 2016
Peeeeeeeep!
1 min: Italy, in white shirts, get the ball rolling, and pump it straight out of play on the left.
Time to find out, then …
@Simon_Burnton Belgium are that big summer blockbuster movie that you hesitate to watch because you wonder, Is it hype or is it crap?
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) June 13, 2016
Fellaini has a blond ’fro. That is all.
Italy’s anthem is a real challenge for aspiring choirmembers. So many words.
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The players are in the tunnel. “I think we will take Belgium by storm for at least the first 30 minutes,” predicts Gianluca Vialli in the BBC studio. Crikey.
Looks like it’s rained a bit in Lyon:
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“What is Marc Wilmots thinking?” wails Kelvin. “Fellaini and his afro start ahead of Dembele, Carrasco and Mertens? Why?” He does offer them a second option: they’ve got beauty, in Hazard and De Bruyne, but they’ve also got the beast. Having just one of them, as Spain showed earlier (for quite a long time, at least), doesn’t always work.
Stop this madness.
Terrible scenes in Paris as Swedish ultras try and break through train barriers at Gare De Nord #EURO2016 #ultras 😂 pic.twitter.com/nXiDLNF7TJ
— Eli (@ElMengem) June 13, 2016
Here’s the official Euro 2016-endorsed team sheet:
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Gianluca Vialli’s resemblance to James Richardson is getting genuinely uncanny.
I know what you’re all thinking: yeah, fine, Buffon, Hazard, whatever. Tell us about the stadium already.
This is indeed pleasant. I too don’t know how popular they are, but I do know that they are a lot less popular than Technotronic.
@Simon_Burnton not sure how popular The Go Find is in Belgium, but I dig their chilled vibe (and the mime!): https://t.co/3Q2zPyvFb8
— agenschmitz (@agenschmitz) June 13, 2016
Italy’s starting XI: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Candreva, Parolo, De Rossi, Giaccherini, Darmian; Pellè, Eder.
Here, for balance, is the biggest-selling Belgian song in Belgium. It’s less obviously entertaining. Surprisingly – given that they’ve got not one but two languages of their own – most of Belgium’s most successful Belgian music appears to be sung in English (I’ve just listened to every Belgian song in their top 50, which is probably taking preparation a little too far. One video featured quite a lot of a man in a polar bear suit, though, so it wasn’t all bad):
Belgium’s team is in:
Line-up: Courtois, Ciman, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Witsel, Nainggolan, Fellaini, De Bruyne, Hazard, R. Lukaku #belita
— BelgianRedDevils (@BelRedDevils) June 13, 2016
Hello world!
Well, it’s only the best national team in Europe – we know this already, thanks to Fifa’s handy rankings, pretty much making this entire tournament obsolete, but we won’t let that stop us – against the seventh best national team in Europe! Belgium are the high-flyers, considered by the game’s international arbiters the second finest side on the planet. Italy, despite an uninspiring qualifying campaign, which among other highlights featured home and away laboured 1-0 wins over Malta, are a global No12 in the Fifa hit parade, but it’s on the field of Lyon’s Stade de, um, Lyon (aka Stade de Gerland) this evening that their actual merit will be decided.
And, what with this being the outstanding tie of the opening round of group games, it has been honoured with the presence of a crack squadron of English referees, led by Mark Clattenburg with the familiar faces of Andre Marriner and Anthony Taylor, also Premier League whistle-peepers, lurking behind the two penalty areas. So that’s nice.
The two teams have played 21 times, with Italy winning 13 of those games and losing only four. But they have met only once in this decade, when Belgium came from behind to win 3-1.
But first, some music! This is the biggest-selling Italian song in Italy at the moment, and the video offers everything you could possibly ask of it, including but not limited to baby pigs, people in outrageously skimpy shorts and some kind of novelty arm-based dance routines. Enjoy.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, why not have a read of Kristof Terreur’s profile of the new Vincent Kompany, Manchester City’s Jason Denayer?
He has some Kompany in him. His nickname (the new Kompany), his club (Manchester City), his position (central defender), his skills (strong, fast, technically good), his origin (a Brussels ‘ketje’ from a mixed family) and this summer he could also replace him in the national team. Let’s introduce you to Jason Denayer, a warrior trained in bare feet.
He would probably rather make a name for himself – and he may have to wait a few games after Marc Wilmots decided against starting him at Euro 2016 in central defence – but Denayer cannot deny the comparisons to his countryman. When he signed on loan for Celtic in 2014, the Scottish club proudly presented him as the “new Kompany”. It said everything about his reputation and his potential. Only time will tell if Denayer follows in Kompany’s footsteps to become one of the Premier League’s best defenders. The 20-year-old defender spent the past season on loan at Galatasaray but in the summer he returns to Manchester City and he hopes to convince Pep Guardiola of his qualities.
