Only three days after the convincing 6:1 Nations League victory against Poland, the next endurance test awaits the football superpower Belgium. On Saturday, Kevin De Bruyne and company meet World Cup hopefuls Wales in Cardiff, who are still licking their wounds after a late defeat by the Netherlands.
His team must learn the “dark arts” to avoid such slip-ups, Wales star Gareth Bale used a term from the “Harry Potter” universe. Belgium were sidelined 4-1 by the Netherlands in the first game of Group A4, but the Red Devils showed their spirits are still burning against Poland. After a goal by Robert Lewandowski contrary to the course of the game, Axel Witsel equalized before the break. The second half was dominated by Belgium with goals from De Bruyne, Leandro Trossard, who netted twice, Leander Dendoncker and debutant Lois Openda. Poland suffered their heaviest defeat in a competitive game since 1965.
“It was fantastic today,” said Trossard afterwards. The professional from Brighton didn’t know why the fluctuations in the performances shown were so great within a few days. “It’s difficult to explain. If we knew the answer to that, we would do something about it. But we reacted well today, that was the most important thing.”
Weghorst scored in stoppage time
The next opponent Wales, however, had to suffer after a turbulent final phase in Cardiff. Wout Weghorst headed the winning goal in the fourth minute of injury time after assists from Frenkie de Jong. In the 92nd minute, Rhys Norrington-Davies equalized for the Welshman to make it 1-1. According to Bale, who came on as a substitute in the 77th minute, the goal shouldn’t have happened. One of his team-mates should have fouled De Jong.
“Getting the equalizer and then getting the goal straight away was devastating but we just have to learn the dark arts to bring it down,” Bale urged for more aggressiveness. “If you play against the top teams and you don’t do what has to be done, you will be punished.” Team boss Robert Page said: “It was a big opportunity but we were too naïve to bring the game home. It’s an important lesson.” Wales are in a group with the United States, Iran and England at the World Cup in Qatar.
After two wins, the Netherlands are at the top of the table and will host Poland in Rotterdam on Saturday. Coach Louis van Gaal was not completely satisfied on Wednesday evening. “We lost far too many possessions in the first half. And then you can’t attack. We were hardly in front of the goal before the break,” said the 70-year-old. “But Frenkie initiated a fantastic counterattack so we still won.”
Source: Nachrichten
