By Andrew Warshaw in Belo Horizonte
June 17 – On paper, they look like world beaters, a veritable galaxy of international superstars – a good number of whom play their club football in the English Premier League.
Today we find out whether Belgium’s golden generation of Red Devils, who are already being compared with the mid-1980s vintage, are really all they are cracked up to be – or whether their lack of experience on the biggest stage of all will adversely affect their status as genuine World Cup dark horses.
Twelve years to the day since they were eliminated by Brazil in their last appearance in the finals, Belgium open their account against Group H outsiders Algeria at the start of what they hope will prove a lengthy stay in the tournament.
No-one can deny their pedigree, led by Manchester City’s title-winning captain Vincent Kompany, a class act if there ever was one as he answered pre-match questions in three languages showing the kind of modesty and gravitas that has marked him out as one of the game’s true gentlemen.
Was he worried, he was asked, about the possibility of Belgium failing to blend as a team despite all their wonderful individuals? Definitely not.
“This is the first World Cup for most of us but I’ve been with this group for 10 years and we all get on really well,” answered Kompany. “Belgium haven’t been on this stage for a long time but there is great team spirit. We are all proud to be playing for our country. Whatever happens I’ll remember it for ever.”
There may be considerable hype surrounding the Belgians but coach Mark Wilmots is commonsense personified. Wilmots says the tag of golden generation and dark horses are media inventions that will mean nothing unless his team delivers in a group that also features Russia and South Korea.
“I’ll only accept the term when we achieve something,” he said. “We haven’t even made the first step yet. But we are a nation of just 11 million and Ill have no regrets if it doesn’t work out.
“People talk about pressure but pressure is when you have an ill child in hospital. There’s no pressure here. Let’s put thing s into perspective. I don’t know whether we are dark horses but what I will say us that these players have great hunger.”
Kompany believes winning the first game has been overplayed and doesn’t think Belgium’s lack of World Cup experience will count against them.
“I don’t think you can draw too many conclusions after the first game. People say we have no experience at World Cups but we certainly do at major tournaments and championships. We’ve done our homework on Algeria and know they are quick up front.
“But we’ve done everything we could in terms of preparation. It’s been a carbon copy of what I would have hoped for, calm and with hardly any travelling. We’ve seen so far how teams have brought their game to the tournament. Hopefully we can too. There have been no difficulties making the transition from our clubs. We’ve always enjoyed each others’ company anyway.”
Only veteran defender Daniel van Buyten has played in a World Cup before and Romelu Lukaku, who will lead Belgium’s attack, said: “Year after year we have been getting stronger and stronger. We have some guys playing with big teams across Europe so we can deal with anything.”
We’ll soon find out….
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