Full-time: Belgium 3-0 Ireland
The better teams won, no doubt about that. Belgium will certainly meet better teams than Ireland - though not necessarily next week, when they take on Sweden - and Marc Wilmots should not think that all their problems are resolved, but at least a comprehensive victory will lift the mood in his squad a little, especially that of Lukaku, who took his two goals well in the wake of a dire performance against Italy. The Italians are Ireland’s next opponents and, having already qualified, will field a weakened team. But Ireland will still have to improve significantly to beat them. Long needs better service from a midfield that looked dispiritingly limited today. And Keogh should come in for Clark at the back. And Roy Keane should probably start limbering up.
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89 min: Coleman digs out a useful cross from the right. It carries all the way over to the other side of the box, where Ward arrives with speed and misplaced confidence: his shot sails into the Garonne.
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87 min: The Irish fans are seeing out the last few minutes by singing mournful ballads. There’s a distinct Euro 2012 vibe to all this.
85 min: McClean fancies his chances of beating Courtois with a freekick from 30 yards. Presumably he also thinks he can fly to the moon on a skateboard. Oh look, the ball trickles wide from McClean’s shot.
83 min: De Bruyne spins around Hendrick, then has a blem for the edge of the area. Straight at Randolph, who saves competently.
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Belgium substitution: Benteke on for Lukaku, who’s suddenly a joint-leader in the race for the golden boot.
80 min: Belgium are clocked off in attacking terms. They’re just trying to coast through the last 10 minutes without injuring themselves or expending too much energy. And Ireland still aren’t inventive enough to pierce them.
Ireland substitution: Keane on for Long. Again, that’s case of preserving a player for the next match and introducing someone who is not likely to make any difference to this game. It might actually have been worth throwing on Murphy to see if a long ball approach might bear any fruit, because Ireland’s more considered attacking has been quite rotten and Keane’s not going to do anything with it.
76 min: Another mistake by Clark gives the ball to Mertens. Fortunately Belgium are not particularly pushed about hitting a fourth goal so Mertens slows play down and Belgium just knock the ball about a bit. That’s a failing, to be fair: if they’d anything about them they’d be trying to absolutely muller Ireland.
73 min: As mentioned in the preamble, Ireland have a sad history of being thwarted by peculiar refereeing decisions against Belgium. And if they had been given a penalty here before the first Belgian goal, as they should have been, then things would have been different. But let’s not cling too hard to that thought because the more pertinent fact is that Ireland have offered next to nothing as an attacking force, with Shane Long given the sort of service that makes Zlatan Ibrahimovic grateful he’s Swedish rather than Irish. And Ireland’s defending has again failed to survive probing for 90 minutes. Vast improvement is needed to beat even an under-strength Italy in the last match.
Ireland substitution: McGeady on for Hoolahan. That’s a case of giving Hoolahan a rest, not of expecting McGeady to make a blind bit of difference.
GOAL! Belgium 3-0 Ireland (Lukaku 70)
That’s torn it. Clark dives in for a ball he;s never going to win. Hazard scurries down the right and centres for the unmarked Lukaku, who sidefoots calmly into the net from 12 yards.
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68 min: McCleans galumphs down the left and hoiks in a cross in the general direction of Long. But it was much closer to Courtois, who gathered easily. The service to Long has been miserable all day, in truth.
Belgium substitution: Mertens on for Carrasco.
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Ireland substitution: The Irish cavalry is a man called McClean, who comes in in place of McCarthy.
GOAL! Belgium 2-0 Ireland (Witsel 61)
That surely secures victory for Belgium and it’s frustratingly easy from an Irish viewpoint. After a steady move, Meunier swept in a ball from the right wing and Witsel ran on to it from deep as Irish defenders dozed. Randolph couldn’t stop the powerful downward header.
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60 min: Sustained Irish possession around the Belgian box comes to nought when a cross from the left is headed away by Vertonghen.
58 min: Ireland are becoming more ambitious. They’re rumbling forward with gusto, but little precision so far.
Belgium substitution: Nainggolan on for Dembélé, who’s picked up an injury.
56 min: Witsel has a pop from 25 yards. Easy save for Randolph.
54 min: Hendrick tries to feed the ball into Long in the box. It ricochets off a defender and onto the hand off Witsel. The Irish howl for a freekick on the edge of the area but the ref tells them to pipe down. That’s the correct response, as there was no way for Witsel to avoid it.
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53 min: Brady delivers the corner. It flies over the had of Clark, who yelps as is to suggest he was shoved. If he was, I didn’t see it. And nor did this ref, obviously.
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52 min: Carrasco loses possession sloppily, giving Brady a chance to scamper forward. He makes 30 yards before playing the ball infield to Whelan, who makes an improbable bid for glory by attempting a blockbuster from 40 yards. It;s deflected out for a corner.
50 min: Vermaelen booked for treading on Long’s foot. That was probably for persistent fouling of Long be Belgium, rather than for one particular offence.
GOAL! Belgium 1-0 Ireland (Lukaku 48)
That’s how to atone for a terrible performance against Italy! Lukaku receives the ball at the edge of the area from De Bruyne following a rapid Belgian counter-attack, and the striker takes one touch and strokes it expertly past Randolph and into the bottom corner. It only took seconds for the non-award of a penalty at one end to become even more sickening for the Irish.
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47 min: Brady curls in a free-kick from the left. Alderweireld catches Long in the head with a boot as he tries to clear! No penalty, curiously.
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46 min: No changes during the break despite the fact that Mertens spent most of half-time warming up. Ireland kick-off, which at last gives them a chance to bring Long into the game. He was playing the Robinson Crusoe role far too often in the first period.
Half-time: Belgium 0-0 Ireland
From a neutral perspective it’s been dull viewing, with a grievous lack of goalmouth action. From an Irish perspective, that’s because of diligent defending and it preserves the prospect of one brilliant counter-attack leading to a glorious victory. Although there has been nothing in this match to suggest any kind of attacking brilliance is imminent. From a Belgian perspective, its really not good enough: they started brightly enough but they’re running low on ideas and their play is slowing down. Hazard has faded from the game, Lukaku is struggling to make himself relevant and even Carrasco seems out of sorts. In short, they’re still not as coherent as they should be. But they, too, will fancy their chances of nicking a win. Unless they bottle it, which is not at all out of the question.
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45 min: Moments ago Hendrick was booked for kicking a ball away after over-zealous ballboyship had led to there being two on the pitch. That may have been justified but the ref has generally been quite harsh on Ireland, it seems to me. Stats-gatherers will be able to give you precise figures, but Belgium have been given more freekicks than you could shake a shillelagh at.
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44 min: Vertonghen gets in behind Coleman for the first time. He drills in a low cross. Clark, impeccable so far, beats Lukaku to it and puts it out for a corner. Which Ireland clear.
42 min: De Bruyne curls in another freekick. It comes through a thicket of bodies and bounces up at Vertonghen, who fails to get it under control, and Ireland regroup and clear.
39 min: Belgium spends a couple of minutes hogging the ball. But they circulate it too slowly to dislodge the Irish defence, whose concentration level has been high so far. For a team ranked by Fifa as the second-best in the world, Belgium have been rather mundane so far. Fifa’s accounting practices, eh?
36 min: Hazard, whose influence has receded since his bright opening, forages for space but is denied any. Eventually Belgium work Meunier into a crossing position, but Brady hurls himself in front of it to make a block. De Bruyne fires in the corner. Alderweirweld gets his head to it but is distracted by Meunier’s attempted overhead kick. Easy pickings for Randolph, who has yet to be truly worried about anything Belgium have come up with.
34 min: Three Belgians jump together as they try to beat Long to a clearing kick by Randolph. Long, standing still, is punished for a foul. Go figure.
32 min: Hoolahan sends a 40-yard freekick into the area. Clark eludes all markers and gets his head to it, trying to steer it towards a team-mate. But it’s too long rather than to Long, and Courtois watches it go wide.
30 min: De Bruyne picks the ball up between Ireland’s midfield and defence for the 666th time. He slides a pass through to Meunier, who gets ideas above his station and tries to poke the ball into the net from 18 yards. The ball travels wide and Lukaku looks miffed: he’d been in front of goal calling for a pass.
29 min: De Bruyne, the most dangerous Belgian so far, has a blast from distance. But Randolph gets down to block his lawn-mowing drive quite comfortably.
27 min: A chorus of “Stand up for the Boys in Green” reverberates around the stadium as Ireland stroke the ball about with encouraging poise. Eventually the work space for Hoolahan, who again just fails to find a clinical final ball. Belgium have been the more threatening side so far but this isn’t one-way traffic.
25 min: The ever-influential De Bruyne clips a pass from mid-way inside the Irish half over the defence and into the path of Carrasco. Randolph tips the forward’s shot on to the crossbar! But it turns out that the goal would not have been allowed anyway, as Carrasco was offside.
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23 min: Sloppiness at the back by Belgium - its always there you know - as Alderweireld gifts possession back to Ireland. But the defender redeems himself by making an excellent block to stop Hoolahan from playing in Hendrick, who would have been clear in front of goal 16 yards out.
21 min: De Bruyne curls in a wonderful delivery from the right. O’Shea does very well to get to it before Lukaku but his diving header presents a chance to Hazard, who runs on to the ball and opens fire from 12 yards .... but it flies over the bar! Best chance of the game so far.
20 min: Meunier chugs down the right can tries to provide a cross. Ward blocks it at the expense of a corner. De Bruyne wastes it.
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18 min: Corner to Ireland after Vermaelen chooses safety first by nodding a fine pass from Hoolahan behind rather than risking t reaching Long. Brady sends in an in-swinger. It’s flicked on at the near post (not sure by whom) and Courtois is forced to tip it over for another one. Brady delivers again and this time Courtois catches it easily.
17 min: This ref is stating to irritate Ireland. He’s just awarded a freekick against Coleman for supposed foul on Hazard. Coleman is mystified and angry. De Bruyne doesn’t care about that, though, and he swings in a dangerous delivery. None of the his team-mates manage to apply a killer touch, however, and Randolph allws it to run out of play.
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15 min: After another bout of Belgian probing around the Irish box, Coleman manages to clear towards Long on half-way. The forward is clattered from behind by Vermaelen - but that’s not the interpretation of the ref, who merely awards Ireland a throw-in.
13 min: De Bruyne curls in a corner from the right. Alderweireld meets it with a glancer at the near post. If Lukaku had been more sprightly he could have turned it into the net from close range but instead Ireland were able to allow the ball to drift wide.
11 min: There’s an alarming urgency to Belgium’s play. Ireland have remained vigilant at the back so far, but they’re starting to creep backwards.
9 min: Long hares after a loose back pass, but Courtois gets to it first and wellies clear. “I fancy Shane Long to score today,” gushes Ger McCarthy. “Looks lively in the early exchanges and will fancy his chances against that Belgian back four. Whether that will be enough to gain Ireland another glorious 1-1 victory remains to be seen.”
7 min: Disciplined Ireland again prevent Belgium from turning breaking through despite a good spell of possession. Then Ward plays a ball into the channel for Long to chase. The forward gets there first and bring in Hoolahan. Belgium eventually smother the attack, but at least Ireland demonstrated an ability not to be besieged in their own half.
5 min: Danger here! De Bruyne receives the ball at the edge of the area with his back to goal. He’s got team-mates darting into the box either side of him and chooses to slip in Carracso, who pings a low ball across the face of goal. Well gathered by Randolph.
4 min: De Bruyne curls a long low ball towards Lukaku, who beats O’Shea to it before turning and playing a beat pass to Hazard. Ireland hold firm and the move fizzles out, but Lukaku will at least draw encouragement from his first contribution since his slovenly display against Italy.
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2 min: The Boys in Green are in white and have made a natty start. They look assured as they work the ball into Belgian territory. Coleman tries to dribble past Hazard and get in a cross, but the Chelsea player causes Jose Mourinho to look askance at his TV set by tackling back and dispossessing his opponent.
1 min: Belgium kick off. It’s on!
Some of the Belgian players are crooning along to the anthem, some not. Damning signs of disunity, they’re doomed! I’m not reading too much into that, am I?
Here we go, here we go, here we go, etc. and so on
The teams stride out of the tunnel. The welcome is as loud and giddy as you’d hope. The Irish anthem is first up, and some of the fans appear to know the words, the rest are mumbling along like we used to do do prayers in church when we were kids.
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“it’s 22 years to the day since Ray Houghton’s goal,” hurrah Brian Kitt. Ah, the famous “chipper”?
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Clashes between Irish fans and French police in Bordeaux last night? More like jolly mingling ...
“Looks like Wilmots is reacting to bad press by replacing Nainggolan (reliable performer) and Fellaini (his personal fav) with Dembélé and Carrasco,” notes Tapan. “But then why stick with Lukaku? He was hopeless the other night and have been so for Everton since a few months now. All a bit confusing!” Belgium’s strikers are all a bit confusing: Origi missed sitters against Italy, Benteke has been out of form for ages and was booed after missing a sitter in the final warm-up game, and Batshuayi’s hold-up play was deficient in the warm-ups. So although Lukaku’s display against Italy could be construed as a come-and-drop-me plea, none of the alternatives are screaming to be included in his place. Looks like Wilmots has given him a chance to make up for his sloppiness against Italy, possibly reasoning that, in addition to good performances for his country in the months prior to the Italy match, he has just had a fine club season in a league from which Clark has just been relegated and O’Shea was dropped.
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Day of Atonement
For Ireland, Belgium are historically a bête noire (French for “pain in the arse”) even if the free state’s first international was a 4-2 victory in Liege in 1928. After that Belgium have consistently blocked Ireland’s passage to major tournaments, starting back in 1934, when Paddy Moore scored four goals against them in Dublin but the pesky Red Devils wouldn’t be beaten and a 4-4 draw was not good enough for the Irish reach the World Cup. Fast forward to 1982 and what is surely one of the toughest World Cup qualifying groups of all time – Belgium, Ireland, France and Holland were all pitted against each other (and Cyprus), with Ireland eventually missing out on goal difference due partially to a 1-0 defeat in Brussels in which Frank Stapleton had a goal mysteriously disallowed. And in a two-legged playoff for the 1998 World Cup, Belgium pipped Ireland again, and again amid peculiar refereeing. If Mr Cakir makes any mistakes today, balance demands they be in Ireland’s favour*.
*MBM hack makes shameless and desperate attempt to send subliminal message to highly respected official.
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Richard Dunne is in ITV’s studio. But hopefully his Moscow spirit is embiggening O’Shea and Clark in Bordeaux ...
As for Belgium, the decision to replace Fellaini with Carrasco makes perfect sense. The movement of Carrasco, Hazard and De Bruyne could bewilder the Irish defence - if the Belgians manage to coordinate it properly among themselves, which they didn’t in a recent friendly against Finland. Introducing Dembélé for Nainggolan is interesting: it’s certainly understandable in view of how well Dembélé did for Spurs last season, but he has not played well during sporadic recent outings for his country so it is not out of the question that McCarthy gets the better of him - mind you, McCarthy first needs to get the better of the infuriating slacker that lurks inside himself and forever dries to siphon off his enterprise
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The first thing that jumps out from those lineups is how O’Neill has reacted to the non-availability of Jon Walters: he’s switched formation to a 4-4-1-1, or thereabouts, and pushed Brady into midfield, with Ward coming in at left-back. Ward did well in the win over Germany in the qualifiers but relying on him to play on him to produce another display does not feel particularly healthy. For what it’s worth, I’d have kept Brady at left-back and brought McClean into midfield.
TEAMS:
Belgium: Courtois; Meunier, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; Dembélé, Witsel; De Bruyne, Carrasco, Hazard; Lukaku
Subs: Nainggolan, Fellaini, Mignolet, Gillet, Mertens, Denayer, Origi, Benteke, Kabasele, J Lukaku, Batshuayi, Ciman
Ireland: Randolph; Coleman, Clark, O’Shea, Ward; Hendrick, Whelan, McCarthy, Brady; Hoolahan; Long
Subs: Westwood, Keogh, McGeady, Keane, McClean, Duffy, Walters, Christie, Given, Meyler, Murphy, Quinn
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
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Preamble:
Hello and welcome to a momentous match. This one will not only influence both teams’ futures in this tournament but possibly also define an era for both nations. Belgium will be hoping it marks the start of the belated awakening of the most technically gifted squad that they have ever had, but an Irish victory would pour hot slurry on that prospect and represent the greatest ever win by a Republic of Ireland team at a major tournament. Yes, better than against England in 1988 and Italy in 1994 simply because of the difference in the calibre of player that Jack Charlton had compared to what Martin O’Neill is working with. In technical terms, there is an alarming disparity between Belgium and Ireland at the moment, the encouraging recent performances of Wes Hoolahan, Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady notwithstanding. But technique is only one of the ingredients of success, of course, and there’s no doubt that Ireland come into the game with greater spirit and cohesion than Marc Wilmots’ uneasy jumble of stars. Ireland have hope.
To help cling on to his job Wilmots has applied varnish to his fingernails in the form of several personnel changes and another new strategy. He has spent years trying to figure out how to make a potent unit out of the high-spec components at his disposal and it’s quite damning that he has arrived at the second match of his second major tournament without really knowing whether his latest wheeze will work. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois knows all about damning, as the goalkeeper suggested after the 2-0 defeat by Italy in the first match that Belgium were “outclassed on all fronts, tactically, technically and organisationally.” Evidently all is not well in the Belgian camp and some players have the hump with their manager, who attributed much of the blame for a below-par performance against Italy to various players. He tends to do that. And he probably has a point: it’s not entirely his fault if a striker misses the ball when right in front of the goal, a midfielder passes to an opponent or experienced defenders neglect to talk to each other then under pressure. Despite spending a chunk of the last year at the top of Fifa’s world rankings, Belgium are a team in which every player, even the most celebrated, is apt to make a mistake at any moment or, in the cases of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, allow whole matches to bypass them. They’re a weird side, all told. But it’s Wilmots’ job to make sense of them and so far he has failed.
Yet they are still overwhelming favourites to win today. Because Ireland, admirable though they are, have limitations that are difficult to conceal for 90 minutes, especially as the lack of squad depth means that substitutions tend to inevitably weaken the side. With the likes of Glenn Whelan and Wes Hoolahan likely to tire, it is hard not to worry about the state of the side going into the closing minutes of the match, especially as Martin O’Neill’s changes in the first game, the 1-1 draw with Sweden, were not even the best available. Basically, to win Ireland are going to need to play even better than they did for the first 55 minutes against Sweden and hope that a central defence that always emits a whiff of vulnerability goes a whole game without coughing up chances and/or Darren Randolph has the match of his life and Belgian’s forwards suffer another outbreaks of the yips in front of goal. It could happen. And with Shane Long capable of pestering any defence into a mistake, especially one as fragile as Belgium’s, a famous Irish triumph is possible. Even a draw would be more than acceptable to Irish fans, especially as their opponents in the final group game, Italy, have already qualified. Belgium’s opponents in the last game are the worst team in the tournament, Sweden, so a draw or a defeat in Bordeaux would not knock them out, but it would certainly mess with their heads – and increase the number of people calling for Wilmots’. He was a hero in Bordeaux during his playing days but he badly needs a strong performance and a positive result today to make this a happy return.
All set for a clash for the ages? Something special is brewing ...
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