Diego Maradona stood there in a black shirt, black suit, two watches, one on each wrist, and a yellow bow tie, holding up a piece of paper that said “England” on it. That meant they were going into Group G with Belgium; it also meant that, sitting watching the draw at home, Thomas Vermaelen had an awkward question for his English wife, Polly Parsons. “I asked her straightaway who she was supporting,” he says. And? “And, of course, she gave a good answer,” he adds, smiling and moving on quickly.
On Thursday they meet in Kaliningrad. “It’s a nice game for us and I think England is very interesting,” Vermaelen says. “I know in England you’re usually all very negative about your national team but I think now with the qualities you have – young, talented players – it’s not going to be easy for us. You have a very good side.”
Good enough to win it? “The World Cup?” Yes, the World Cup. Are we that good? “Well,” the Barcelona defender says, “you’re one of the outside [candidates], I think. You could win it, but you always need a bit of luck. I think we lacked a bit in the Euro [2016], for example. Anything can happen, although the favourites are maybe Brazil, Spain. I still watch a lot of the Premier League so I know the qualities England have. You have talented players and I think you should look positively at it.”
If England are outsiders, Vermaelen attributes a similar status to his own country, yet there is something in the way he says it that suggests greater ambitions. “Maybe we’re a team people should look at as one of the outsiders,” he says. “We’re going there to win it, otherwise there is no point.
“We’re going for the quarter-finals. But there are a lot of big teams there. It’s the World Cup and once you pass the group stage you’re definitely getting a very difficult game.”
Curiously enough, it may be even more difficult for the team who win Group G than the runners-up. There’s luck there, too.
“You look back at the Euro and we were unlucky,” Vermaelen adds. “The buildup to the Wales game was good, but then Jan Vertonghen broke down in the last training session, which was a big blow, and then in the game itself for the first 15 minutes we were hammering them: we could have won that three-or-four-nil but the game just slipped out of our hands and we lost it. So luck is always an element.”
Luck alone may not explain it, though. Belgium look different under Roberto Martínez – “a strong tactical coach,” in Vermaelen’s words – from how they did as relationships broke down with Marc Wilmots in France two years ago. And if England have talent, this may be the finest generation Belgium have ever had, underlined by eight goals in the opening two games. They are ranked No 3 in the world and over the last two years Belgians have been runners-up in the votes for the Premier League PFA player of the year award: Kevin De Bruyne this past season, Eden Hazard the year before. They will be vital, Vermaelen believes.
At club level Vermaelen plays with Lionel Messi; with his country he plays with Hazard. It may be a leap but there are similarities between them.
“I think there are some, yes,” he says. “Of course it’s difficult to compare anyone to Messi for the way he has done it over so many years, year in, year out. But they are both quite small with that low centre of gravity so they can turn and twist very quickly. They have that element of surprise in their game; you don’t know which way they are going to turn and they can move so quickly. The form he is in, Eden is world class. Messi’s been up there for 10 years but Eden can get right up there.”
As for De Bruyne, Vermaelen says he is not surprised at how well the Manchester City player performed last season. “The thing is when I first saw him in the national team I was already impressed with his qualities,” he says. “And he develops because he is playing for a massive club, showing it every week: big games, small games, it doesn’t matter. It’s not just his qualities, it’s his development.
“He’s a clever player, very technical; his passing is unbelievable and his shot as well. But don’t underestimate his physical qualities: he can run and he is strong in the battles too.
“You can’t forget that the English league is so tough that you have to be physically prepared. Players like De Bruyne have that: there’s the technical ability but they’re physically strong enough to cope. De Bruyne is maybe the best player and he can definitely help us.”
All of which leaves one question. What did Polly say when the draw was made? Vermaelen laughs. “That she was supporting me, of course.”
