Belgium World Cup squad- Door-die moment for Hazard's 'golden generation' The general feeling among football fans is that this Belgium team still lacks the killer instinct and doesn't really believe in their ability to turn dreams into reality
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is knocking at the door, and all the 32 teams are preparing for their best shot for the trophy in Russia. The team ranked 3rd in the FIFA rankings, is surely a force to reckon with in this World Cup, with renowned players from renowned clubs the world over, joining forces for the country.The road to Russia:Belgium had a very easy campaign in UEFA's qualifying Group H, which seemed relatively straightforward with competitors like Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Cyprus and Gibraltar. Apart from a rather unlucky home draw against the Greeks (they outshot them 17-2), the Red Devils didn't lose points and made sure of qualification long before the final fixture.
They scored a massive 43 goals in the process, Romelu Lukaku leading the way with 11 and Hazard adding six goals and five assists. Simply, the Red Devils marched their way to Russia with any challenge whatsoever.The major strengths of the squad:This is truly the golden generation of Belgian football and even the big stars of 1980s, like Jan Ceulemans agree that the current squad is the best ever.There is remarkable quality and depth in every department of the Belgium squad, starting with Thibaut Courtois in goal. Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Vincent Kompany are top-notch defenders plying their trade in the leading clubs of England.Belgium’s playmaking is controlled by Kevin De Bruyne, one of the best playmakers in the world, the brightest star of Guardiola’s ‘all-conquering’ Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne has enjoyed the best season of his career at Manchester City, scoring eight goals, providing 15 assists and delivering countless defence-splitting passes. Very few players in the world possess the Belgian's quality and vision. He is definitely one of the most pleasant players to watch out for in World Cup 2018.Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens are outstanding wingers, with the latter starring as a centre-forward at Napoli in the last two seasons.Captain Eden Hazard, on the other hand, is a ‘true number 10’ and his play in the attacking third has provided astounding success for Chelsea.Romelu Lukaku is one of the most powerful and prolific strikers in the Premier League. The Manchester United forward can win games for any squad on his better days.The weaknesses of the squad:Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has one of the most promising squad on papers and has the luxury of picking a world-class line-up in every department.Such firepower means they must be considered a legitimate contender to win at Russia, but such a squad still has some cons, one hang-up is that almost all the players of the current squad went to World Cup 2014 and Euro 2016 and failed miserably. The starting-11 looked unbalanced and lacked a winning mentality. The poor tactics of the-then coach Marc Wilmots produced a team of poorly managed stars.Martinez is a much more able tactician than his predecessor, but some of the major problems remain.It is still unclear whether De Bruyne and Hazard can fulfil their potential together.The Belgium squad also lacks a true left-back, which has forced Martinez to shift to a 3-4-21 system.The mistreatment of Radja Nainggolan is stunning, especially after the Roma midfielder led Roma to the Champions League semi-finals, scoring twice in the secondleg of the semis against Liverpool.Preferring Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini in the midfield instead of Nainggolan, is controversial to put it mildly.The heavily tattooed 30year-old has played 30 times for his country and is popular with supporters, but his relationship with Martinez has often been strained.The former Everton manager said: "It was a sad and difficult decision.
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