Belgium’s expectations are high. If they want to turn more doubters into believers, the players will need to showcase their high class against debutant Panama.
Kick off
Monday (June 18), 17:00, Fisht Olympic Stadium (Sochi)
Preview
“I think we know how strong we are and I hope we can show it in this tournament,”
Those were the words on Napoli forward Dries Mertens. We’re about to find out whether his hope becomes a reality, starting today, when the Belgians are huge favorites against first-timers Panama. The Red Devils are unbeaten in 19 matches under head coach Roberto Martinez and were the first European team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. They were also joint-top scorers with Germany (43). Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku are the three star players who will need to shine if Belgium is to reach the heights that this generation aspires to.
During the last World Cup in Brazil, Belgium came to the quarter-final against Argentina undefeated, only to lose 1:0. In Euro 2016, they reached the quarter-finals again and there they were knocked out by Gareth Bale’s Wales. Therefore, the quarter-finals are the barrier they are trying to leap over in Russia. Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen will not be available for Martinez. Kompany injured his groin in the warm-up game against Portugal, while Vermalen is still recovering from a late season injury with Barcelona. He probably could’ve taken the field, but the coach is choosing to be cautious. Dedrick Boyata and Jan Vertonghen will likely be the starting center back duo.
Panama is the fallout of United States’ CONCACAF qualification failure. Hernan Gomez’s side needed to win and hope that U.S.A. loses versus Trinidad & Tobago in the last round in order to travel to Eastern Europe this summer. Panama won on a goal that never crossed the line, the Americans lost and now we’re here. The Panamanians actually finished with a negative goal difference, which makes their presence at the 2018 World Cup even more remarkable. Their boss Hernan Dario Gomez will be coaching his third World Cup team, having previously led Colombia (1998) and Ecuador (2002) to this tournament. On both occasions, his teams were knocked out in the group stages. That’s likely to be his destiny again.
Prediction
Sochi was the site of the most goal-happy game in the tournament so far – the 3:3 draw between Spain and Portugal. The warm climate seems to have suited those two. We’ll see whether it suits the Belgians. Anything but a win will be a shock for the worldwide audience. This Belgium star-studded squad should not have any trouble finding the net at least two or three times today.
